Traitor of Hope
by karkashan
Summary: He is the one who does not beleive that the conflict between SS and Vaizard can be resolved without bloodshed. She is the one who does not beleive that anyone can mend her broken heart.Evil laughs at their misfortune. pairings in later chapters.
1. Prologue: The discussion

Prologue

Then sun was setting over Karakura same as it always did. The people for the most part were nestled in their little homes, unaware of what was to happen to them in less than a year. They were all going to die. Not only would their earthly bodies die, their souls would also be consumed to become part of the King's Key.

Mizuiru was walking back to his best friend's place like he did almost every day before he went home, if he went home at all. That woman drove him insane! Mother or no, sometimes he could reach back and smack her with his Zanpakuto.

Oh yeah, you didn't know that, did you? Last spring, while he and Keigo had been at one of their usual hangouts, a depraved soul known as a Hollow. They had both discovered their own latent Shinigami powers that had resided deep within them. They met a Shinigami known as Rukia Kuchiki. She helped guide them and mold them into suitable warriors. But even she could never have guessed at the level of power that those two possessed.

After she had been with them for a couple of months, her older brother and his vice-captain came after her. Though they tried their hardest, at that time they were powerless to stop him. Shortly thereafter, they were trained by Urahara and someone who they would never had expected, Isshin Kurosaki. Evidently he had been a Captain in the Gotei Thirteen. Mizuiru had gone with the old goat-chin.

Mizuiru shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was no time to be dwelling on the past. He had enough to think about as it is. He sighed, however, because that was nigh impossible with all that had happened recently. For instance, he had tried to talk to Ichigo about if he knew about what his father really was, but could not figure out a way to do so without accidentally revealing too much. He didn't want to reveal Soul Society to somebody who knew nothing about it, but who knew for sure if Ichigo knew or not? He certainly was not going to risk Ichigo knowing nothing in the presence of that Chibi-Captain. He shuddered at the cold memory of the last time he had pissed Toshiro off.

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"So what do you think?" asked Shinji to his fellow Vaizard.

The other Vaizard was clad in all black, looking like a member of the second division. There were slight deviations, however. For instance, the Vaizard wore sunglasses to hide his eyes, a pair of bony ebony gauntlets, and although he wore a cloth mask, his uniform also sported a hood. "He doesn't seem too bad, but I would like to see the extent of his abilities for myself."

Shinji's forehead suddenly grew an anger mark, "What the hell are talking about?!! You just saw what he can do when he was sparring against Hiyori!"

The other Vaizard simply just turned his head towards him, and let his eyes bore into Shinji's, "I meant I would like to test his abilities myself, if you don't mind. I hear that _that man _had trained him."

Shinji tilted his head to the side and scratched his head, "Okay, okay. I will let you _personally_ test his abilities. How does tomorrow sound to you?"

"Sounds absolutely perfect, Shinji."

Shinji sighed, "Just don't kill him, okay?"

The other Vaizard chuckled beneath his mask.


	2. Ch1: When the doves cry

Chapter 1: When the Doves Cry

"Yo, Mizuiru, what's up?"

Mizuiru's face grew into a pissed expression to face the one who had tried to get his attention. "What the hell do you want, Hirako? I thought I had the day off from training today."

Shinji scratched at his ears and couldn't quite look at him, "Well, you see…"

Mizuiru got even more pissed and yelled, "Just spit it out already, would you!"

The other sighed and proceeded to use his other hand to scratch his head in annoyance, "Yeah, about that, I am afraid that the one Vaizard that you haven't gotten to meet yet wants to test your skills in battle."

"What? Why!?"

Shinji just glared at him, "I don't know why, idiot. What, do you expect me to some how be able to read his mind in order to figure out his motives for wanting to fight you? Well how about you just let me know when you've figured out a way for me to do that, and I'll personally introduce you to a flying pig."

"Tch. You didn't have to be a jerk you know." said Mizuiru. He sighed, "All right, I was feeling kind of bored anyway."

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Mizuiru walked down the stairs into the training grounds underneath the building that the Vaizard inhabited. He noticed that all of the other Vaizard seemed either on edge, or in the case of Afro and Hiyori, a state of anticipation.

"I brought him just like you wanted me to, so can we watch or do you want it to be a private show," said Shinji. Mizuiru wondered who he was talking to for a second when the black-clad Vaizard showed himself to everybody.

"I thank you, Shinji, and no, I do not wish for this to be a private showing, at least in the case of my fellow Vaizards. Is the shield set up properly?"

"Hai!" said Hachi.

The Vaizard bowed to the shield expert Vaizard in acknowledgement. He then turned to Mizuiru and said, "Well then, Mizuiru-san, shall we?" Mizuiru nodded his head in the affirmative as he drew his blade. The other Vaizard withdrew his own blade as well and spoke, "We will fight without the assistance of our hollows, and will we won't use Bankai, at least not at first. You have two goals in this fight: 1. To stay alive, 2. To figure out my identity. Show me what you got!"

The black-clad Vaizard launched himself at Mizuiru and immediately aimed a thrust towards his heart, but Mizuiru managed to block it and push it away from himself before going on the offensive. He aimed one of his elbows towards his opponent's face who ducked to miss the blow. Mizuiru knew he would do this, however, and had already positioned himself to thrust directly downward at his enemy. The Vaizard though had continued his backward motion in order to kick Mizuiru in the face. Mizuiru had seen this and had changed motion in mid-air in order to land a blow to his opponent the exact same time that he received one. They both flew in the air only to land harshly against the rocks. They both got up quickly and decided to take it to the next level using shun-po.

After almost three minutes of intense shun-po fighting, one could tell that this battle would be going nowhere if they did not call out the names of their zanpakutoh. Mizuiru was the first to call out his soul slayer's name.

"I summon the bitter cold, Ashi Aisu!" (evil ice) yelled Mizuiru. His sword changed shape into a serrated black and white blade. The atmosphere seemed to become like that of the Artic wastes. Mizuiru got into his favorite stance, blade poised over his head while being parallel to the ground. His feet spread wide apart, his other hand with palm facing his opponent.

His opponent cocked his head to the side and then shrugged. He grabbed hold of the tassels hanging from the hilt of his sword. He then proceeded to start spinning it about in a tight circle, so fast that it appeared that he held a shield was being held. As he slowed down his sword started to change shape.

"Pierce the night sky, Zangetsu." (cutting moon) said the Vaizard. His soul slayer was more akin to a cleaver used by a butcher, than a sword used for fighting. He raised it up into the air and screamed the last two words Mizuiru heard before blacking out.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

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Mizuiru shook his head to clear away the last remnants of unconsciousness he still felt. He looked around him and saw that he was in the upper levels of the Vaizard hideout. He noticed that all of the other Vaizard were there, as well as the one he had just fought. The black-clad warrior was facing away from him so were he couldn't see his face while being worked on by Hachi.

_Oh yeah_ thought Mizuiru, _I forgot I had used my Reflecting Ice Mirror right before I got hit. Ugg… did that hurt or what. That must have been his zanpakutoh's main ability, or else I wouldn't have been hurt to this extent. I think I might have gotten him, but I'm not entirely sure._

The black-clad Vaizard let out a hearty chuckle upon sensing that Mizuiru had awoken. "I sense that you finally decided to join the conscious, Mizuiru," said the Vaizard. "That technique of yours was very good. Congratulations, you past my test, and now I can no longer hide my identity from you." He got up and turned to face Mizuiru, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and I welcome you to our brotherhood, Mizuiru."

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The sickle moon in the night sky cast a somber glow onto Seiretei, as if the thoughts of Soi Fon were making themselves known to the sky and it was acting accordingly. She sat quietly on the patio in the courtyard of her house, every once in a while taking a sip of tea. She sighed as her thoughts turned more and more dark. She gripped her mug tight as she recalled what happened in the last 100 years.

First, a hundred years ago, she lost her Captain. She had been Soi's best friend and confident, teasing her and encouraging her in the same breath. She had been like the older sister she had never had, helping her develop her abilities and training with her almost every day. Then she had just up and left her behind, not even considering for a second that she would have willingly gone with her.

Many other things had happened since then over the past 100 years. She had almost died when she had been cornered by fifteen Gillian while she had been alone in the human world. She had lost many subordinates over the years. And just recently, Aizen had led his betrayal of Soul Society. Those were just a few of the many things that had happened, and were as much as she was going to let herself think about.

"_Soi Fon-Taichou, are you going to let sadness rule your life forever?"_

She gripped her mug with vigor as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"_Don't worry Captain, I am a Fuku-taichou after all. I can take care of one measly hollow."_

Her body started to shake violently in an effort not to break down and weep.

_Captain, where are you Captain? I can't see anything Captain. Everything is turning black. _

She bowed her head as choked sobs started to escape her.

"_Captain…I..I..Love..y.you..."_

The mug shattered in her hand right before she fell to ground. She curled herself into a ball and cried herself to sleep, the memory of what happened six years ago plaguing her dreams.

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TBC…..


	3. Ch2: I wanna love you

Chapter Two: I wanna love you. 

"Hey, hey Mizuiru! Is there anybody home?" asked Keigo. He looked at Mizuiru in puzzlement. Ever since yesterday's surprise training for Mizuiru, he hadn't said a word. It was kind of odd, even for Mizuiru. "Dude, ever since yesterday, you've been acting kind of weird. What's wrong man?"

Mizuiru shook his head vigorously, as if waking up. He turned towards Keigo and said, "What did you say?"

Keigo sighed, "I said, 'what's wrong with you, you've been acting kind of weird.' Do you need caffeine or something?"

Mizuiru nodded his head in the affirmative, "Yeah, some coffee would be really nice."

They both went inside the coffee shop and got something to eat and drink. As they sat down, Mizuiru sighed after taking a sip of his coffee. "In answer to your question, I found out something yesterday that shocked me a little bit."

"What did you find out?"

Mizuiru sighed again and said, "Will you promise not to tell the others?" Keigo nodded. "Good, but the only reason I'm telling you this is because you are a Vaizard as well. I discovered that Ichigo Kurosaki is a Vaizard."

"WHAAAT?!!??!?" screamed Keigo.

Mizuiru waved his arms frantically at the elbows in order to try to calm his friend down. "Will you be quiet?! You're causing a scene."

Keigo looked around the shop only to see that almost everyone was staring at them. His face flushed as he looked down at his hands. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scream out like that. But it's just hard to believe that Ichigo of all people is a Vaizard. Is he strong?"

Mizuiru winced and rubbed his chest at the remembered wound. "Yeah," he said, "he's strong. He could more than likely defeat both of us at the same time, Bankai or no. I-"An explosive reiatsu suddenly appeared, shutting off their conversation. Mizuiru and Keigo looked at each other before nodding and putting mod soul pills into their mouths. They both popped out into their Shinigami forms and turned towards their bodies. "Stay here." ordered Mizuiru. The konpaku nodded their heads in the affirmative.

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Soi Fon gazed at the sky when one of her subordinates reported to her.

"Soi Fon-Taichou, I have an urgent report from the scouts in the real world."

She turned around to face him as she asked, "What is the report?"

The Shinigami underling bowed his head quickly before continuing, "It appears that several Arrancar have started to attack. Ikkaku-san has requested assistance from our division."

She was about to give out orders when another messenger appeared before. "Please forgive my interruption, Captain, but I have a report on the real world situation." 

She raised her eyebrow in question, and then nodded for him to continue. "It appears that Yoroichi-san, Urahara-san, and another captain level Shinigami are pushing back the Arrancar. The request for assistance has become null and void."

Soi thought about the situation. On one hand, it was apparent that even captain class Shinigami would be hard pressed to push back Arrancar. But one the other hand, she knew how powerful Yoroichi and Urahara were. Though… "Who is the captain level Shinigami who is lending assistance?"

The second messenger reached behind for the written version of the message in order to give the correct information. He then stuffed the missive back into his uniform and said, "His name is Isshin Shiba, former captain of the Seventh division."

Soi Fon looked at him in shock. She then dismissed the two. She turned around and walked back towards her office. She sighed and popped her neck and fingers. She hated paperwork.

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"Is that your best, Shinigami?" said a confident Grimmjow. He sneered at his opponent, Mizuiru. When his opponent had pulled out that freaky mask, Grimmjow had been frozen with fear. Not like he would ever admit it though. He'd sooner die than say it. He rubbed the spot where his arm had gone missing. He growled in annoyance at the memory of that bastard Tousen destroying his arm like that.

He looked down and noticed that Mizuiru was struggling to rise, even though he was still severely injured. Grimmjow started walking down towards him, looking as if he were descending on invisible stairs. He unleashed his spirit pressure onto Mizuiru, forcing him back down just as his feet touched solid ground. He looked and the sight before him and tsked.

"What's the matter, Shinigami? And here I thought you were going to show me how much you've grown stronger. I didn't even need to bring my other arm here in order fight you. Pathetic, truly pathetic. I guess Ulquiorra was right in calling you trash, Shinigami. This has become boring." He then turned around and started walking away.

Mizuiru struggled to hold him self up as he said, "Where do think you're going, teme? I'm not through with you yet!"

Grimmjow laughed, "And what are you going to do? Die on me?"

"If you are looking for more of a challenge, Arrancar, I am happy to provide one." said a voice behind and above Grimmjow.

Grimmjow spun around and looked up at the speaker. He had never seen this person before. "Who are you? And why are you intruding on my fun?"

The speaker replied, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and you are messing with one of my Vaizard."

Grimmjow sneered, "Vaizard eh? This should be exciting. I do hope you can provide more of a challenge than this wimp on the ground over there."

Ichigo pulled out Zangetsu from its sheath, and at the same time forced it into Shikai without calling its name. He then pulled his hollow mask out and placed it on his face. "I hope that you can provide a challenge at all, Arrancar. **Piercing Fang!**" he said as he threw his sword at the hollow.

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As the Arrancar were escaping, Isshin noticed that his daughters had wondered over near the battlefield. He waved at them that he would talk to them as soon as he knew the threat was past, before he wondered why they were there at all. He had told Ichigo when he had been his Gigai that he was supposed to take his sisters to a movie, and to protect them with his life.

Isshin sighed as his daughters approached him. It wasn't fair to Ichigo that Isshin's daughters knew about his Shinigami status, while Ichigo didn't even know of the existence of Soul Society. His eyes narrowed as he realized that Ichigo never once inquired about the recent supernatural events to his family or to his friends. Isshin thought he would definitely be asking questions when that Gillian had appeared because of the antics of the young Ishida. But Ichigo had said nothing, as if he had either seen its ken before, or if he had seen stranger things.

"Isshin," said Yoroichi, "I'm going to check on Mizuiru-kun. It appears the Arrancar he had been fighting still hasn't left yet."

Isshin nodded, "I noticed that too. Do you want me to come with you to check on him?"

Yoroichi shook her head no, "Nah, don't worry about it. You should just check and make sure your daughters are okay."

Isshin looked at his approaching daughters and winced. He knew he was in trouble if little Yuzu was pissed.

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The Arrancar, Grimmjow, and the Vaizard, Ichigo, had their swords locked together. They couldn't remove them, for if they gave even a millimeter, the other would be able to take advantage of it and destroy him. Power permeated the atmosphere around them, making hard to breath for even one of high spiritual pressure.

This was the scene in which Yoroichi walked in to. She realized that the one clad in black must be a Vaizard, for his spiritual pressure felt much like that of a Shinigami, and he was wearing the mask of a hollow. She frowned though, because his reiatsu felt very familiar, almost like….No, it just wasn't possible, was it?

She was puzzled because his reiatsu felt almost like Isshin's, but with a little of the late Masaki-san's thrown in for good measure. And she knew of only one of Isshin's children who was that tall, and that was Ichigo. She narrowed her eyes. That boy was going to have a lot of explaining to do when this fight was over.

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TBC

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	4. Ch3: Lithium

Chapter Three: Lithium

Mizuiru gasped and clutched at his side as he struggled to move to a sitting position. He grimaced slightly when a coughing fit had blood trickling down his chin. As he was doing this Yoroichi went over and knelt down beside him. She propped him up against a boulder and checked him for injuries. While she was dressing his wounds she asked him about his fight with Byakuya.

"How exactly did you defeat him? I never really got the details."

Mizuiru winced as he attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. "It wasn't easy, let me tell you. I thought I would die at one point…."

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_Right after Soi had been defeated by Yoroichi._

Mizuiru smirked at the noble. "Is that all you can do?" he asked. "I thought you could do better. How bout you show me your Bankai already. This is starting to get boring."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the substitute Shinigami. "You are unworthy of my Bankai. Chire, Senbonzakura."

A thousand cherry blossoms made of steel flew towards Mizuiru. Mizuiru made no attempt to dodge them whatsoever. He simply narrowed his eyes at Byakuya and said, "Freeze him, Ashi Aisu."

Blue energy blasts emerged from all over the place, defeating each and every one of the noble's blades. Byakuya's eyes widened as he gazed at the defeated blossoms. Each and every single blade was coated in a layer of ice. He turned towards Mizuiru and said, "It appears that I will have to turn you to dust." His reiatsu flared as he grabbed his reformed sword in one hand. His gaze became almost malicious as he dropped his sword with the air of one who was indifferent to the situation. "Bankai."

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Yoroichi looked annoyed at him, "Would you just get on with it already? I already know the nature of his Bankai you idiot."

Mizuiru chuckled lightly at her expression, "So sorry about that Yoroichi-san. I promise to get on with it. Now where should I start?"

"How bout when you unleashed your Bankai? Then you can just go over the highlights."

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Ichigo and Grimmjow still seemed to have their swords locked together, as if in a constant struggle for dominance. In reality, they were putting on a show for the non-Vaizard's sake. For Grimmjow was in fact Ichigo's informant in the Espada's ranks. While Mizuiru was giving out his life's story, Ichigo and Grimmjow were engaging in some light hearted banter.

Ichigo flared his reiatsu and asked, "So, Grimmjow, did you catch that Chiefs vs. Raiders game last week?"

Grimmjow glared at him, "Shut up," he said.

Ichigo laughed at him, "You're a Raiders fan, aren't you?"

Grimmjow growled and flung Ichigo away from him, "I said shut the hell up!"

Ichigo chuckled again and said, "Go Chiefs, baby. Go Chiefs."

They then both launched themselves back at one another.

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_Back in time…past…whatever. _

"I guess I shouldn't have tried to beat your Bankai without bringing out mine."

Byakuya's glare intensified. "Be careful, boy. It sounds like you have already achieved Bankai."

Mizuiru lifted up his head and grinned like a maniac, "That's exactly what I'm saying, Byakuya Kuchiki!"

Byakuya's eyes widened at this statement. It was impossible. Bankai was the ultimate form of the Zanpakutoh Arcanum, often needing ten years simply to master all of the possible moves. Even for the four great families, who are born with spiritual pressure beyond anybody else's, Bankai happened only once every few generations. Yet this boy, this _human_, who wasn't even a proper Shinigami in the first place, was claiming to have achieved it. Why was the temperature decreasing that much? It was almost as if …

Mizuiru got a firm grip on his sword, before throwing it up into the air. As it came back down towards his own head, Mizuiru got into an even more relaxed position, with his hands at his sides. The sword then hit his heads with extreme force, but instead of slicing through his head, it did something else. It melted over him, forming itself into samurai like armor.

This armor was sky blue in color, making it look as if he had been covered in armor made of ice. Spikes rose from his open faced helmet, his shoulder pads, and even a couple from his breastplate. His face was covered in markings similar to tribal tattoos. His eyes, however, changed the most. They glowed an eerie red, seeming to pierce the very soul.

He snapped and two blades formed out of the very air. He then grabbed both of them, crossing both of them in front of his chest before slicing them through air, and taking a stance very similar to Shunsui's Shikai stance. His eyes narrowed.

"Bankai," he said in a voice that would chill the devil himself. "Ashi Aisu, Oni Oumono." (Evil Ice: Demon King.)

He flash stepped behind Byakuya and unleashed a devastating attack that was alike to two ceros being fired from the two swords. Byakuya barely avoided the blasts, and retaliated in kind. But when it seemed that he had Mizuiru cornered, Mizuiru unleashed an ice blast that knocked away every single one of the blades. He then disappeared and reappeared behind Byakuya, stabbing him with both of his blades.

Byakuya then activated his Senkei, and Mizuiru was starting to wear down. He could no longer keep up with the Captain any longer. As Byakuya raised his blade for a killing strike, Mizuiru mentally screamed at his body to move.

Just as the sword was about to kill him, his hand shot out and caught the blade. "Che.' He said. "It seems I got to do everything for ya, Oumono." He disappeared and reappeared behind Byakuya and slashed him in the back. "Kieseru!" (Die!)

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As Mizuiru was giving his narrative, he suddenly passed out from his injuries. Yoroichi sighed as she laid him down gently on the ground. Hopefully Inoue would be able to heal his injuries. She sighed as she looked over to the standoff between the Vaizard and Arrancar. She was about to lend assistance when the Arrancar suddenly pushed himself away from the Vaizard. He was then enveloped in the blinding light of Negacion before disappearing.

The Vaizard then slowly levitated back down to Earth. He walked over to Mizuiru and kicked him in the chest. Needless to say, this woke up the substitute Shinigami. He glared at his fellow Vaizard before grinning.

The black clad Vaizard shook his head and said exasperatingly, "What am I going to do with you, idiot?"

Mizuiru coughed a little and smiled, "Let me have the week off from training?"

The other simply glared at him, "You have the day off. I don't want you to try to fight an Arrancar after nearly four straight days of training again, ya hear?"

Mizuiru started to chuckle, and the Vaizard started to laugh as well. Yoroichi just sighed and thought she would never understand men.

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:"Hirako-san, I have a message for you sir." said a secret remote squad officer.

Hirako took the message from the Shinigami and dismissed him. He read over the information before calling for Ichigo. When Ichigo got near him Hirako said, "We just got some information about the situation in Soul Society. It appears that they are really nervous about this whole Aizen thing. It also seems that they are willing to accept help from any source. This could be useful after the war is over. They may be inclined not to hunt us anymore if we helped them with their little Arrancar problem."

Ichigo crossed his arms and thought awhile before replying, "That is really good news. You can always count on Shaolin to provide good information."

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TBC

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	5. Ch4: Yo Quiero

Chapter Four: Yo Quiero

Soi Fon turned to her Fuku-taichou and said, "I am going to be doing some personal reconnaissance in the real world for awhile, Omaeda. I need you to look after the division for me. Think you can handle it?" She put one of her hands on her hips as she awaited his answer.

Omaeda looked up from his kneeling position on the floor. "Do not worry about a thing, Captain. I will give my all to maintaining this division. If I may be so bold, Captain, might I inquire as to what kind of 'reconnaissance' you are doing in the real world?"

Soi Fon narrowed her eyes, but then closed them and sighed. "I would rather you not know, just in case there is some sort of fallout."

Omaeda simply smirked at his Captain. He raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm assuming it has to do with the 'objective' of the division?"

Soi's eyes widened at this, "How did you know?"

Omaeda simply chuckled, "Your concern for a 'fallout' made it extremely obvious, Captain."

Soi just sighed, "You will tell no one about this, understand?"

"Perfectly, Captain." Omaeda said as he bowed his head in acknowledgement.

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"Why do I have to come here again?" whined Keigo to Mizuiru as he was being dragged down the stairs to the Vaizard training grounds by the pissed of ice wielder.

Mizuiru simply said two words, "To fight."

Keigo looked at him weird, "Who?"

Mizuiru didn't bother replying, instead, he simply dragged his soul out of his body and stood him up. Mizuiru then got out of his own body before going to both and dragging them out of the way. He turned around and proceeded back up the stairs. He then yelled something the Keigo could not make out, before coming back down the stairs with the rest of the Vaizards, including Ichigo.

Ichigo was still in his outfit from before, but he had opted to not where his hood or mask. He walked towards Keigo confidently, as if he was afraid of nothing. Knowing Ichigo as well as he did, Keigo seriously didn't think that he was capable of fear.

Ichigo waved a hand lazily at him as Mizuiru finally answered his question. "You get to fight," said Mizuiru as he pointed towards Ichigo, "him. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap." He then walked over to where the others were, pulled out a cot out of nowhere, and then proceeded to fall asleep. Keigo then proceeded to have a normal reaction to this, he fell anime style.

Ichigo sweat dropped at this. He chuckled nervously as he recalled the last time he had seen Mizuiru. That had been when he had 'saved' him from the 'enemy'. His normal scowl turned into a smirk as he remembered the interesting conversation he had had with that purple haired woman, Yoroichi.

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_We're going back in time…_

Yoroichi picked herself up off the ground and turned towards Ichigo. She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything. She just simply stared at him, without speaking. Not a single word exited from her lips, yet her eyes seemed like they were boring into his soul. Though her gaze did intensify, her crimson lips did not move. She…

Ichigo finally had enough and snapped at her, "What do you want? Speak up, woman!"

Yoroichi's vein on her forehead bulged and throbbed in anger as her grin turned creepy. "What did you just call me?" she said as she began to crack her knuckles.

Ichigo just looked at her strangely before replying, "Woman, I called you woman. I don't know your name, and you look rather like a woman, so I called you woman. Unless you're not a woman?"

Before he knew what had happened, he found himself pinned to the ground, with a foot on his throat.

Yoroichi looked at him even more creepily than she already had and said, "What did you just say?"

Ichigo looked completely unfazed, although he always did because of the cloth mask. He sighed, and decided instead to find his bearings again. He was lying on the ground, check. He was looking at the face of the pissed of woman, if she was a she, check. There was a foot at his throat, check. She was sitting on top of him, check.

She moved a little on top of him, causing him to thank Kami up above that he had his cloth mask on and nobody could see his flaming cheeks. She was definitely a woman all right. A really pissed off woman. Instead of acting nervous with her on top of him, he instead acted like this was an everyday occurrence and replied, "I said, 'woman, I don't know your name. What else am I supposed to call you?"

Yoroichi dropped the creepy grin, but instead brought her foot closer to his neck. "My name is Yoroichi Shihouin, former Captain of the Second Division."

Ichigo nodded his head from his position on the ground and said, "While I normally don't mind being this close to a woman, Yoroichi-san, usually there is a certain amount of nakedness and an 'activity' before we decide to cuddle like we are doing."

Yoroichi had the decency to blush at this, before getting off of him as quickly as possible. She brushed the dirt off of her legs before offering a hand to help him up. Ichigo accepted the hand and stood up. He then crossed his arms and asked, "What did you want to ask me, Yoroichi-san?"

Yoroichi crossed her arms over her stomach and asked, "Who are you? Are you a Vaizard? Why are you dressed like that? What do you plan to do about Aizen? Are you…"

Ichigo held a hand up to forestall further questions, "Peace, Yoroichi-san, peace. I cannot answer all your questions. But I will answer your first four. I am Fuji, I am a Vaizard, It's my own personal style, and we plan to defend Karakura when the time comes. Now if you will excuse me, I need to check on my fellow Vaizard." He then shun-po'd away.

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… _Back to the Future!!!_

Ichigo withdrew his sword, and walked down towards where Keigo stood. He smirked at Keigo's nervousness, before thinking of a new way to torture him.

"Hey, Keigo, you get to fight me using your Shikai only, and I also will only use my Shikai."

Keigo sighed in relief at this.

"However, I will not fight you. My hollow will fight you." Ichigo's eyes then proceeded to darken, the white becoming black, the color becoming yellow.

The hollow inside of Ichigo sneered at Keigo. He called out Zangetsu, before saying, "I guess I got to thank that Oumono of mine." He licked his lips in apparent hunger, "It's not often that I get a nice, juicy, Shinigami to eat."

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_We back in da past again…_

Ukitake, Captain of the thirteenth Division, was running as fast as he could. He was not running away from something, however, he was actually running towards something. He was running towards the execution grounds, Shihouin artifact in hand, hoping to get there before it was too late. As he got closer, he could already see the weapon's true form. As he was about to launch the device, he was stopped by a boy in a shihakusho.

The boy in front of him held a finger to his lips, before using that finger to touch the artifact held in Jyuushiro's hands. Ukitake's eyes widened as the artifact started to crack and crumble into dust. Just as he was about to demand why the boy had done that, the young one simply turned around and yelled at the Soukyoku.

"Soukyoku, Attend!" Everyone's eyes widened as the giant flame bird shrunk before racing over to the ryoka. He held his arm, and the fire bird landed on it, taking in the soothing ministrations of its master. It closed it eyes in bliss as it was scratched.

"Who are you? How did you do that?" said Ukitake in astonishment.

The boy simply turned his head towards him and said, "My name is Keigo Asano, and this is my Zanpakutoh, Soukyoku, Kikou form."

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TBC

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	6. Ch5:Dre Day

Chapter Five: Dre Day

Yamamoto's eyes widened at the sight before him. The other young ryoka had arrived, and not only had assisted in stopping Sokyouku from destroying Rukia Kuchiki, he also claimed that the Firebird King was the Shikai form of his Zanpakutoh. And by all the physical evidence being presented, this appeared to be a fact. He was about to take a step forward when the ryoka turned towards him.

"You're the wielder of the supposed strongest flame zanpakutoh, am I right?" Keigo sneered and pointed a finger at the Captain-General. "I don't think that's entirely accurate." He raised an eyebrow and widened one eye, "How about we go somewhere else and try and burn each other to a crisp, in order to pass the time?"

Keigo held out his hand and flames shot up his arm. They formed into a smaller version of the pre-Firebird King form of Sokyouku. He grabbed the weapon tight before using his other hand to gesture away from the developing battle between Byakuya and Mizuiru. He then disappeared in a haze as he flash-stepped away.

Yamamoto gripped his staff tight before also disappearing from the execution grounds.

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The hollow side of Ichigo cocked his head to the side in puzzlement before shrugging. "If you're not going to do anything, then you're just going to get killed!" he said before throwing Zangetsu straight at Keigo's head. The zanpakutoh hurtled through the air at an unreal speed, roaring in the air as it cut its deadly path towards its target.

Keigo's eyes darkened as he seemed to be staring down at the ground. "Burn him to cinders," his eyes looked up at the incoming threat and his gaze hardened, "Sokyouku." Flames shot out from around his body, to wings made of flames blocking the attack from Zangetsu. As the wings of flame hurled his opponent's sword back at him, he reached behind him and grabbed the rod of flame attached to his back before spinning over his head. When he snapped it down, the flames dissipated and his spear was revealed.

Ichigo's hollow narrowed his eyes at Keigo before spinning the blade at his side. He said, "Well then, I guess this is going to be more fun than I realized." He leaped high into the sky and held Zangetsu above his head. He held a maniacal grin on his face as he screamed, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

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Karin and Yuzu were out together looking for new clothes for the both of them. They were both smiling happily as they were going from one shop to the other. As they passed one shop, however, they were passed by someone who gave off a weird feeling. They both turned their head to the girl who appeared to be their own age. Then all of a sudden they could feel the hollow taint to the girl's reiatsu. Their eyes widened as they felt another strong reiatsu behind them.

They both turned around quickly and gasped at the man behind them. He had blond hair and one of the creepiest grins they had ever seen. He smiled at them and asked, "You two are Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki, correct?"

Karin's eyes narrowed and growled, "Yeah, we are. What's it to you?"

Hirako's grinned widened and replied, "Your big brother wants to see you." Yuzu gave a little squeak of surprise, before covering her mouth and blushing in embarrassment. "I believe it has something to do with your inner hollows."

Both in a daze of surprise, the twins followed Shinji and Hiyori obediently back to the Vaizard base of operations.

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Soi Fon arrived at the human apartment she kept, noticing she would have to clean it later, after today's meeting was finished. She picked up her Gigai up, checking to make sure it was still usable. Satisfied with its quality, she got into it. Rubbing her temple to clear her headache, she walked over to the dresser mirror and looked at the reflection.

She had on jeans and navy blue t-shirt, with only a necklace and a couple of earrings in the way of jewelry. She ran a hand through her now waist length hair, preferring this hairstyle than the one that had those stupid braids in the front.

On her way towards her destination, she did was too occupied to notice the people she passed by. One of the people that passed her snapped her head quickly in her direction as she was passed by Soi. She ruffled her purple hair in irritation as she realized it was probably just an hallucination. She shook her head in annoyance and kept on walking away.

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Ichigo and Keigo were relaxing after the battle when Hachi came up to them in order to speak with Ichigo. Ichigo looked at the Vaizard and raised an eyebrow in question.

Hachi cleared his throat and said, "Shaolin is here, Ichigo, and your sisters are on the way."

Ichigo thanked Hachi and pushed himself up off the ground. He turned to Keigo and Mizuiru and said, "Let me introduce to another one of our Vaizard brethren." He pointed behind him towards the long-haired woman coming down the stairs. "Let me introduce you to the commander of the Vaizard residing within Seiretei. She is one of the strongest Vaizard warriors, an expert in stealth and assassination. Let me introduce you to none other than Shaolin Fon, Captain of the Second Division."

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TBC

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	7. Ch6:Los Vaqueros

Chapter Six: Los Vaqueros

Soi Fon bowed slightly at the waist in acknowledgement of her superior. She then turned to Keigo and Mizuiru and said to them, "Hello there, ryoka boys. It's been quite a while since I have last saw you, hasn't it?" She smirked at their dazed looks on their faces, before chuckling out loud.

Keigo was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the second division Captain standing before them, and having Ichigo say that she is a Vaizard. "Since when have you been a Vaizard?" exclaimed Keigo.

Soi just smiled at him and said, "Oh, I just joined recently."

Ichigo sighed and said, "Shaolin, that was eighty years ago when you just us."

She turned to him with a confused look on her face, "That's not _that_ long ago."

Ichigo replied, "I'm not even going to reply to that, Shaolin." He started to stretch his arms and legs, while he continued to talk to her, "Did you avoid detection?"

She scoffed, "What do you take me for, Strawberry? Some kind of little princess straight out of the academy? I can take care of myself just fine, o King Vaizard of idiots."

He just glared at her before their interesting argument was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. He glanced in the direction of the sound to find Mizuiru with an annoyed facial expression.

"Can we get back to why she is here at this very moment?" asked Mizuiru.

Ichigo nodded his head in acknowledgement and replied by saying, "She is here for many reasons, but the only one that you really need to know about is this. She is here because she needed to deliver something of great importance to our cause." She nodded her head in agreement with his statement and turned her head towards the two junior Vaizards.

She crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to Ichigo. "I heard you had an interesting run-in with Yoroichi a few days ago," she said with a smirk. "What in the world did you say to her in order to piss her off so much?"

Ichigo simply grumbled under his breath at this. He looked away from her as she arced an eyebrow in his direction. "What was that?" she asked in an annoying tone.

Ichigo glared and replied, "Not now Shaolin. First, we must attend to the business currently at hand." He turned his attention back to his fellow classmates. "She is delivering a device that will allow all the Vaizard members an instant safe haven in any given situation. This device acts similar to the Negacion of the Menos Grande, in that it protects us and brings us back to our 'safe haven' that we reside in. It does not destroy the matter around the retrieved warrior like the Negacion. It simply deploys one of Hachi's previously constructed barriers and retrieves the members in question."

Mizuiru and Keigo only had one word to say to Ichigo, "Cool."

Ichigo chuckled lightly at their response, "Well, anyway you two, I want you two to hurry up and go home and rest. I need you two in top form tomorrow, for we are continuing training. In fact," he sneered, "we are going to kick it up a notch."

Both junior Vaizards groaned.

Soi just laughed out loud.

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Karin and Yuzu were both nervous as they entered the Vaizard training site. They walked very close to each other, taking comfort and giving support to each other by their close proximity. They gazed around the place, noticing that it looked both warm and cheery, and dark and drab.

Karin looked towards the creepy blonde in front of them and asked, "What exactly did you mean by our brother wants to see us?"

Hirako just shrugged and said, "Exactly what I said, little girl."

Karin became angry and said, "If you call me that again, I swear that you will need an entire glacier to ease the pain between your legs."

Hirako flinched and said, "Hey, hey, you don't have to get mad at me, Kurosaki. I was just told by your brother to bring the two of you here." He turned and smiled his creepy smile at them, "Evidently, you two have been trying to hide something from your so-called 'comrades'."

Karin narrowed her eyes, "I have no idea what you mean."

Yuzu nodded her head in agreement and said in her quiet voice, "Yeah, Karin's right! We would never hide anything from everybody who is fighting with us."

"Really," said Shinji, "Then how do you explain the little scent of hollow that I can detect oozing out of you?"

The twins blushed and looked to the side guiltily. He was right, even though they wished he wasn't. They both had somehow gained an inner hollow within the last few weeks, and it was getting harder and harder to control them as time went on.

Hirako saw their expressions and chuckled, "Don't worry ladies. The reason you two are here in the first place is because we can help both of you with your little 'inner hollow' problem."

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Soi Fon turned to Ichigo and placed a hand on her hip. "So what do want to know before your sisters get here?"

Ichigo glanced at her and replied, "How is everything going with the Brethren Division?"

She smiled and said, "It is going quite well. We are now at 95."

Ichigo nodded and said, "Good, very good. It seems that our conversions have gone a lot more smoothly, haven't they Shaolin?"

She smiled a little bit more and replied back saying, "Yes, it has. Of course, having the second division a part of the Vaizard since the foundation of the Gotei 13 certainly helps things along with my subordinates."

Ichigo rubbed his chin, "It certainly does, certainly does. Have you picked out what you are going to wear to the dinner with the elders of the 'family'?"

She didn't respond at all, instead, she pulled out a large bat out of nowhere and hit him upside the head with it. She sighed as she put the bat away, "You never do learn, do you Ichi-kun?"

He laughed and answered, "I hope not, Soi-chan, or else how would I entertain myself?"

She huffed and crossed her arms.

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Yuzu gazed at the painted clouds on the ceiling and had to restrain herself from falling anime style. She sighed and shook her head in wonderment. Who knew that there was someone out there in the world who shared Urahara-san's twisted decorating sense?

She and her sister looked over at the little fluctuation of reiatsu. They saw someone who was dressed similarly to a Shinigami waiting for them. Yuzu gasped when she noticed who it was. That mop of orange hair was unmistakable. She ran as fast as her human legs would take her, before leaping into the embrace of her big brother. "Onii-chan!" she squealed happily.

He returned the quick hug and said, "How have you been, Yuzu-chan?"

She looked up at him and asked, "Where have you been? It seems as if you haven't been yourself at home, and I think I know why. But anyway, I'm kinda hungry, Ichi-nii. Do you have kitchen somewhere around here?"

As Ichigo lead his two sisters to the kitchen, he sighed happily and said to his sister, "You have no idea how much I have missed your cooking, Yuzu-chan." He turned around and called behind him, "Coming, Shaolin?"

She smiled warmly at him and said, "Hai."

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Keigo arrived at the apartment he shared with his sister, making sure to be as quiet as he could on his way to his bedroom. As he passed by the couch, he heard a light snore. He looked down to see his sister sleeping curled up on the couch. She was clutching a photograph in her hand, her head resting on a tear-stained pillow.

His gaze softened as he looked her tear-stained face. He went to a closet and grabbed a blanket. He then went over to where his elder sister lay, and placed it over her, making sure she wouldn't catch cold during the night.

He looked at her one more time, before reaching down and gently removed the photograph from her hand. He heard her say something, and thought she had woken up. She had just talked in her sleep.

As he went to bed in his room, he placed the photo by his bed, gazing at it one last time before he drifted off. In the picture, he was no older than a year old, while his sister was only a couple of years older. His parents were also in the picture. His mother, who was so tiny and frail looking, one would have never guessed just by looking at her that she had borne two children.

The other person in the picture had a gentle smile on his face as he gazed at the camera. His glasses and expression made him appear to be a man who could command respect, and evoke kindness in every gesture. He had been in soul society when this picture had been taken, so one could tell he was a powerful man just because he was wearing a white captain's haori.

As Keigo finally fell into a restless slumber plagued by dreams, the picture of Sosuke Aizen and his family fell to ground.

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TBC…

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	8. Ch7:Standing to Defend You

Chapter Seven: Standing to Defend You

Ichigo was silent on the way back to his home. He was worried about the true objective behind the most recent assault on Karakura. Why would the Espada just attack out of the blue like that? It just didn't make any sense at all. It was if they were trying to gauge the defenses before they pulled off the big heist.

He growled in his throat. Grimmjow hadn't been much of a help either. The Espada had been given no information at all about why they had been sent. Of course, it didn't help that the idiot had gotten thrown out, either. Ichigo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in order to try and relieve some of the tension.

As he got within sight of the clinic, he pretended not to notice the Shinigami that were hanging around his house. His face did not change expression, but he allowed himself a little smirk on the inside. It must be because of the sudden disappearance of his little sisters yesterday afternoon. His father must have panicked and had sent every available Shinigami who would listen in search of them.

Ichigo opened the door to the clinic, only to be assaulted by the most infamous goat-chin this side of the river. Isshin pointed towards Ichigo and angrily yelled, "Where have you been, delinquent? Don't you know I don't allow sons of mine to stay out of the house all night?"

Ichigo picked himself up off the ground and kicked his father in the chest. "I don't want to deal with you this morning, old man! I've just gotten back from the library, if you were really concerned about my welfare. I had to finish up a research assignment."

Isshin got up off of the floor and dusted himself off. "I don't care about you." He cried a couple of rivers as he continued, "I just want to see my beautiful daughters one more time before I die!"

Ichigo responded by whacking his father upside the head. "They're not gone forever, idiot. They told me last night that they were going to spend the night at a friend's house. Now would you please shut up so I can eat breakfast in peace?"

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"Oi, Ichigo, over here!" Tatsuki waved him over to where she and the others had gathered for lunch. They were all grouped together, the ones who had visited soul society making sure not to talk about hollows in front of those who had never seen them before. As he was making his way over to them, he noticed that Rukia had a worried expression on her face, even though Mizuiru and Keigo were actually there today.

He glanced in her direction, before glancing at Mizuiru. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Mizuiru and Rukia had something going on. Nah, like that could ever happen. He glanced at both of them again, and the image of kids that had the irritating factors of both of them showed themselves to his imagination.

He shuddered and sat down next to Chad. He hoped that even if they did get together after all this, that their kids would miraculously not take after their parents. He looked over to his left and noticed that that one red-haired Shinigami was walking over to them. His scowl deepened as he tried to remember the idiot's name. What in the world was it? Really, he knew every single word for every single spell, knew the names of all of his subordinates, heck, he even knew the name of every available type of Pocky in existence. Yet, for the life of him, he could not recall a single thing about him.

Then it suddenly hit him, Renji was his name! Phew, that was awfully close. When Ichigo finished his lunch, he kicked Renji out of the way so he could throw his trash away. He then turned around and muttered a cynical, "Sorry, Renji, didn't see you there." before asking everybody else if they needed something form the vending machines. After receiving everybody's orders, he left the group to retrieve them. Before the doors closed behind him, Keigo and Mizuiru both managed to catch the glare sent their way.

The glare simply meant one thing, "Talk about out Vaizard business, and I won't _let_ you die."

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As Ichigo was gone, giving the others to talk more freely about supernatural matters, discussion eventually found its way to the hottest topic in their minds. That topic was none other than the fact that Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki had both disappeared yesterday afternoon, and their father had freaked out. It was understandable though, they were his daughters after all.

They tried to inquire about where Mizuiru and Keigo had been the last couple of weeks, but had no luck in trying to pry information. Then Tatsuki and Renji tag team interrogated them. But just as it seemed they were about to crumble to the twin fiery wills, Ichigo arrived back on the rooftop.

He had a whole bunch of snacks tucked under one arm, while Shinji stood behind him with another armload. Ichigo walked over to them and actually smiled in public for once, "I hope you don't mind that I brought along Shinji. He seemed to be depressed and emo all by himself, so I decided to let him eat lunch with us. You guys don't have a problem with it, do you?"

Mizuiru and Keigo were trying not to laugh, they really were, but it was just really, really, hard. They excused themselves for a moment as they went downstairs, before laughing like they had never laughed before. Tears of laughter in their eyes, they made their way back to the impromptu gathering, only to hear Tatsuki say, "You two just get more and more stupid by the day, don't you?"

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As Ichigo was waling away from school, he noticed that he was being tailed by Renji. He did not let on that he noticed Renji, but decided to use his spiritual senses to continuously check for danger from the Shinigami. As he passed the old fruit vendor, about five to ten huge hollows suddenly attacked.

Renji's eyes widened when he sensed the hollows, and immediately swallowed some soul candy in order to transform back into a Shinigami. He gripped Zabimaru tight as he jumped in the air to strike at the head of the closest hollow. He turned, only to see Ichigo about to be injured by a hollow.

Renji tried to move as fast as he could, but he could not stop the descent of the hollow's claws from hitting the orange haired high school student. Just before the attack hit however, Renji heard one word and one word only, as Ichigo lifted a finger and pointed it towards the hollow.

"Byakurai." Ichigo said calmly. When he said this, a bolt of lightning shot out of his finger, and destroyed the hollow instantly. He then turned towards Renji and said, "Good afternoon, Shinigami, how might I be of assistance to you today." He then snapped his fingers, and his appearance changed to that of the hooded, sunglasses wearing, Vaizard.

He bowed slightly at the waist towards the Vice-Captain, "I'm sorry if I alarmed you, sir, but I like to use other people's appearances when I bait hollows. Now if you will excuse me, I have things that need to be taken care of." He then disappeared in a haze as he shun-po'd away.

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Shaolin sighed as she walked around the convenient store. This was why it was always such a pain when she went to the real world for extended periods. She never had everything that she needed when she arrived, and always had to restock on supplies. She moved throughout the isles, glad that this particular store was owned and operated by an elderly Vaizard couple.

Many people in Soul Society thought that the Vaizard had used forbidden techniques in order to become what they were. That was far from the truth. They used forbidden techniques to suppress and dominate their inner-hollows. This was only done by the elite, as the common Vaizard only had limited control over his hollow's powers. The average Vaizard was in actuality stronger than the average Shinigami, but there were far more normal Shinigami than there were Vaizard.

The Vaizard were a people who had had to live in the shadows since there had been someone in power in Soul Society. They had been persecuted and hunted, before realizing that they must submerge themselves within the larger Shinigami population if they were to have any hope of survival. So they did just that, and had grown and flourished as a people.

As Shaolin was leaving the store, she bumped into somebody who was walking in. The other woman was knocked back, startling both women. The other woman's eyes widened when she saw who she had collided into. Shaolin did not stop to talk, so Yoroichi had no choice but to try and make sense of what she had just seen.

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TBC…


	9. Ch8:Exit Light

Chapter Eight: Exit Light…

"I'm telling you, Urahara, I could have sworn I saw Soi's double in that convenient store." said Yoroichi.

Urahara just glanced at her from the shadows that were cast by his hat. He scratched the stubble on the side of his face, before replying back, "I seriously doubt that she was here in the real world, Yoroichi. How closely did she resemble Soi, Yoroichi? Were there any differences in the general look that might cause you to rethink your wild claim?"

Yoroichi's expression grew pensive, "Well, she did not have even close to the same hairstyle. She had waist length hair, and it wasn't straight cut like she used to wear it. And she also didn't walk like Soi does at all, you know, all stiff and formal like."

Urahara snapped his fan open and held it over his face, "Well there you go right there, my feminine feline friend. Soi cannot physically stop her self from walking militarily. So the woman you saw could not possibly be Soi, even if the resemblance was uncanny, you should probably just try and forget about it."

Yoroichi nodded her head, "You're probably right." She then went into her room and laid out on her futon. As she tried to get some rest, she couldn't stop thinking about it. That woman just looked so much like Soi it wasn't even funny. As she fell asleep, her dreams were filled with memory.

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_Right after her fight with Soi_

As Soi crumpled to the ground in defeat, Yoroichi closed her eyes in an attempt to sense the outcomes of the various clashes of reiatsu that had been taking place throughout Soul Society.

She noticed that Old Man Yamamoto and Keigo were still locked in mortal combat. The flames from their zanpakutoh sent waves of heat all across Seiretei. She shivered at sheer intensity of the fight. Who knew that a mere human teenager would be able to fight toe to toe with the oldest and greatest of the current captains of Soul Society? She certainly did not.

The one thing she didn't get was who were those two boy's parents? Mizuiru's power was almost demonic in nature, it being able to freeze someone both physically and mentally. Keigo had the ultimate execution's instrument under his control, with enough raw power to completely wipe out half of Seiretei in one fell swoop. The only thing was, was that both boys were tight lipped when it came to their parents.

She turned her gaze to her left, when she sensed the presence of one of Soi's subordinates rushing towards them. She tensed as he drew closer, preparing to use shun-po to take him out. But before she could do anything, he used shun-po to flash to his Captain's side.

He grabbed his Captain in his arms, shaking her gently in an effort to wake her up. "Captain," he said, "Captain, wake up! This is not the best of times for you to catch up on your beauty sleep, Soi Fon-Taichou."

Soi stirred awake as the words of her subordinate reached her. She opened her eyes to the sight of a concerned member of her division gazing down at her. The lower ranked Shinigami smiled at her through his mask and said, "I'm glad you are alright, Captain."

He set her down gently with her back resting against a boulder, before standing up and facing Yoroichi. He spread his legs apart and reached behind him for his zanpakutoh that was strapped sideways to his waist. "Now if you will excuse me, Captain, I do believe there is the matter of this woman that needs to be taken care of."

"Fuji, stand down at once."

The second division member turned towards his Captain in astonishment, "But why, Captain? She hurt you, and that is an unforgivable sin." Yoroichi raised an eyebrow at this.

Soi saw her former Captain's expression and gave out a light chuckle. "She is not to be harmed, Fuji, do you understand?"

Fuji grumbled beneath his breath at this.

"What was that Fuji? I couldn't quite hear you."

Fuji resheathed his sword and bowed towards his Captain. "It shall be as thou hast desired, o' beautiful Captain of mine."

Soi just looked at him. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Captain, guess I got carried away with my undying adoration of you."

Soi's vein bulged on her forehead with annoyance. "How many times have I told you to not do that kinda stuff in the presence of others, Fuji?"

Fuji replied in a happy tone, "1,269,669 times so far, Captain."

Yoroichi laughed out loud at their antics. Before the others could comment again, Isane's report on Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen's betrayal cut through to them. Her eyes wide in shock, she turned to Soi and said, "You stay here, and I'm going to help the others stop those three."

As she sped off into the distance, the one known as "Fuji" took off his cloth mask. Turning back to his Captain, he started to bandage her up and give her other kinds of medical attention. He winced when he noticed the newly made scars covering her body. Sure, she had to fight at only ten percent, but he never would have guessed she would have been hurt this badly.

Soi turned her head towards him, but before she could speak, a voice cut through the air. "So, the infamous Soi Fon-Taichou finally fell in battle. I guess that's what you get for being so weak, Captain."

The one who said this was none other than Ryu Inuzuri, a Shinigami who was a member of her division. He had never forgiven her for taking the Captain's mantle for herself. He thought that it should have gone to him. But no, none of those in power thought he could do anything. Well, he would show them. He would kill the Captain here and now, and there wouldn't be a single thing that anyone could do about it. As he drew his sword, Fuji turned towards his Captain, an eyebrow raised in question. She nodded.

Before Ryu could do a single thing, the other male second division member used shun-po to get behind him. As he was turning around to face his opponent, he only heard one word.

"Byakurai." said Fuji, pointing his finger at Ryu's head. The bolt of lightning made a thunderous sound as it totally obliterated the pompous shinigami's head.

Without the ugly head, the body of the traitorous Shinigami collapsed in a heap. As Fuji ran a hand through his orange hair, she suddenly fell back asleep.

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_She ran along the riverbank, desperately trying to catch up with her fool of a Vice-Captain. As she turned a bend, she noticed that there were three bodies on the ground. One of those bodies belonged to a grown woman. She lay bleeding on the ground, most likely dead. _

_A little boy lay beside her, throat slashed open. Most likely this had been caused by a hollow, for she could sense no life force at all, meaning their spirits either left or were devoured._

_She turned her attention to the third body, and suddenly forgot that there still might be a hollow close by. She ran to her Vice-Captain, clutching him closely to her chest. _

_Before she could try to heal him, a hollow appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her by the neck using its tail. As it lifted her up, she used her sword to chop the appendage off. The hollow howled in pain and took a couple of steps back. Its eyes narrowed at her, before it used a move similar to shun-po to get behind her. It gripped her by the neck again, making sure to keep a firm enough grip to ensure that she did not try anything._

_But instead of throwing her across the riverbank like it had done six years ago in reality, the dream hollow reached towards its own mask. She heard a sickening crack as the mask broke off of the hollow's face. She screamed as the hollow sneered at her. To be more accurate, the face of Ichigo sneered at her with malice far beyond even his capabilities. _

_As she screamed even louder, he let out a horrifying laugh that would chill even Aizen to the bone._

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"Shaolin, are you ready?" Ichigo asked from the other side of her bedroom door.

She looked one last time in the mirror to make sure she looked alright, before opening the door. Ichigo stood outside, wearing a black tuxedo and holding a rose in his hand.

As she stepped outside her room, he gave her the rose and said, "You look absolutely stunning, Shaolin. Shall we go?" He offered his arm to her.

She nodded her head and accepted it. They then walked outside to a waiting limousine, which would take them to a very important dinner…

----------------------------- ----------------------------------------

TBC


	10. Ch9:Enter Night

Chapter Nine: Enter Night 

Ichigo got out of the Limousine first. He gave a quick scan of his surroundings, noticing the bright colors of the western style casino shone brighter than the sun. He sized up each person near their car, making sure that no spies from soul society had happened along at the wrong moment. He then turned back to the black automobile and held out his hand for the other passenger.

A white silk gloved hand grasped his firmly, before he gently lifted her up out of the vehicle. The female brushed a stray strand of her hair out of her eyes before she took Ichigo's arm and walked with him inside of the casino. Her diamond jewelry glittered in the artificial light, causing several women who saw her to become envious. Her jewelry was expensive, but it still managed to be tasteful.

They made their way quickly through the casino floor, not pausing for a second at the many different games of chance laid out around them. They walked towards the elevator, taking care not to make a spectacle of themselves. They had both been given express orders that they were not to be seen as Vaizard to anyone who was not until after such time as it was safe for them to do so.

The elevator stopped at the twenty seventh floor, making an annoying pinging sound as they both walked towards their destination. They were headed towards an expensive restaurant. But this restaurant was not just any restaurant, it was owned, operated, and catered completely to Vaizard.

As they made their way through the wide double doors, guarded on each side by a man in a black tuxedo, Ichigo noted that the owners had spared no expense in providing a comfortable atmosphere for the assorted members of the Vaizard Ruling Council, or VRC.

They were stopped in front of the dining room, where another tuxedo wearing guardsmen, whom Ichigo was amused to discover was none other than Grimmjow, asked them,

"What would you do if you were to die before you could wake?"

Soi Fon did a little curtsy and said, "I would pray that the Lord my soul would take."

Grimmjow nodded and turned his head towards Ichigo and asked, "What will happen to that grain of sand?"

Ichigo bowed at the waist, a hand at his heart, and said, "It will fall into mine own hand."

Grimmjow nodded again before asking a third question, this time directed towards the both of them, "What will the Grand director say to the actors on the stage of destiny and plight?"

Soi and Ichigo go both replied simultaneously, "He will say, 'Exit Light, Enter Night."

Grimmjow smirked at them both before opening the door to the meeting room.

------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mizuho, Keigo's elder sister, was extremely pissed off. Try as she might, she could not fall asleep. How could this be? Her dear younger brother was already asleep, snoring like there was no tomorrow.

There in lay the problem. His snoring was so loud she could feel it vibrating the very foundations of the house in which she lived. She thought that he really should see a doctor about it. He never listened to her though, apparently he didn't believe her when she said that he sounded as if he stopped breathing sometimes. There was no reasoning with him sometimes.

She sighed as she got up out of bed. It appeared as though there would be no sleep for her tonight. She walked into the kitchen, stopping by the fridge to grab a diet coke before heading into the living room. She sat on the couch, gazing through the window towards the night sky. She wondered if her mother was looking at the same sky as her.

She closed her eyes as she remembered her mother. Her mother had been a kind and gentle soul, always looking out for everybody else. She would always give Mizuho and Keigo a treat every time they were to try and do something nice for their mother, even if they screwed it up. She would always laugh at their antics, making sure that they didn't hurt each other or themselves.

Mizuho smiled as she remembered the taste of her mother's cookies. They were the best. Her father would always somehow manage to arrive home every time a batch of her mother's cookies would come out of the oven. He would try to sneak a cookie behind her back, but her mother always managed to smack his hand away. She would then scold him and tell him that he wasn't supposed to have a cookie until they cooled.

"But Momo," he would always whine, "it's not like they're going to burn me or something."

Momo would always wave her wooden spoon at him and reply, "You never know, Sosuke, you never know. But that doesn't make a difference anyway. It just feels… sacrilegious to me for someone to eat a cookie before it has cooled."

He would always laugh at her explanation, before scooping her into his arms and giving her a bone crushing hug.

Mizuho heard a rustle behind her, and focused her gaze in that direction. It was Ikkaku, one of the Shinigami her brother had let stay in their house during the mission to the real world they had partaken in. She gave him a small smile as he made his way over to the fridge, doing her best not to freak him out. It would be a bad thing if he found out the truth to her and her brother's identities. That when she was little, she had resided within Seiretei. That her first crush had been none other than the man currently rummaging through her refrigerator. That her mother was none other than the fifth division Fuku-taichou, Momo Hinamori. She didn't want him to know that her father was Sosuke Aizen.

Ikkaku walked over towards Mizuho, a soda in his hand, and said, "How are you holding up, Mizuho-san?"

Mizuho looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Her voice was laced with amusement as she replied, "Not bad, considering the thunderstorm coming from my brother's room. Anyway, I thought I told you already to address me just as Mizuho?"

Ikkaku chuckled, "You did, you did. Sorry about that, Mizuho. Is that better?"

She laughed as well, "Yes it is, thank you." She turned her attention back to the night sky, growing silent as she gazed at the stars.

Ikkaku cleared his throat before saying, "Mizuho, I might be leaving here pretty soon, so um… I would just like to thank you for your extremely generous hospitality."

Mizuho smiled at him, "You're welcome, Ikkaku." She looked at him, "Was there anything else?"

Ikkaku nodded, and if she didn't know any better, blushed. "When I come to visit, would you like to grab a bite to eat?"

She laughed and said, "That would be delightful, Ikkaku-kun."

------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ichigo and Soi both entered the meeting/dining room, noticing as they entered that they were the last to arrive. Ichigo walked Soi to her seat, pulling the chair out for her and stuff like that, before heading to the seat to her left, at the head of the table. As he sat down, he took note of those in attendance, noticing as he did so that everyone's attention was on him.

He turned his head to the man sitting across from Soi, an older gentleman who went by the name of Fuji Kurosaki, Ichigo's maternal grandfather. He was one of the eldest Vaizard in existence, managing the secret clan history, and heading up the development department of the masked Shinigami. Even though he was old, he was still powerful, hence his place at the table.

The man sitting next to Fuji was also on in years, though not nearly to the extent of Ichigo's grandfather. His hair was graying, but no other signs of aging were presented among his features. His name was Antonio Bortecelli, more often referred to as Don Bortecelli, as he once ran a criminal Vaizard syndicate during the glory years of the Renaissance. His 'family' still existed, but was not quite as powerful as it once was.

Sitting next to Soi was the one and only Shoji Hirawatari, head of the second command. He was in charge of the largest command of Vaizard warriors. He was a lanky man who had green, well, everything. He had green hair, eyebrows, eyes, clothes, jewelry, and even fingernails. Creepy fashion sense aside, he was a capable warrior, with a focused head on his shoulders.

Next to Hirawatari sat the only American Council member, Akito Smith. She was half Japanese, half American, all Vaizard. She had long hair tied in a ponytail that ran down her back. She commanded the First Command, one of the smaller but more versatile commands of Vaizard warriors. She was also an expert at Kidou, even being able to outdo Ichigo in terms of that form of fighting.

Across from Akito sat the greatest healer of the Vaizard, Hanajima Hirawatari. She was not only the greatest healer of the Vaizard, she was also one of the few Vaizard who could survive the Nightmare World, one of the Twelve greatest mind crushing spells available to Shinigami and Vaizard. She also was Shoji's elder sister, often having to restrain him when he would grow angry, or simply just irritated.

The Vaizard at the foot at the table was the commander of the Third Command. She was none other than Kiyone Kotetsu. Her appearance here at the table was quite different than the appearance that she showed to the Shinigami of Seiretei. In this place, she let her spell of concealment drop, revealing that she looked more like her sister than many would have realized. She had been assigned to the thirteenth division under the previous Vaizard head's orders. She had been sent there to keep tabs on Ukitake, Captain of the Thirteenth. She did her job well, as well as every other job she had been assigned since joining the masked Shinigami.

Ichigo nodded his head, before smiling towards everyone seated. He cleared his throat before saying, "Is everyone comfortable? Good, I wouldn't want you all to be otherwise. Now then, as they bring out our dinner for this evening, does anyone have some quick news that they would like to share with everyone?"

Akito gestured towards Ichigo. After receiving his unspoken approval to continue, she said, "It appears that there has been a breach in our security, Ichigo. One Hanatarou Yamada has learned of some of our deeper secrets, and as such, we were forced to apprehend him. He does not seem the least bit afraid, however, so it thought it might be prudent to bring the matter to your attention before making any decision concerning his well being."

Ichigo frowned, taking a sip of wine while trying to digest this information. He then motioned an attending butler over to his side. After a few tense seconds of whispered conversation between them, the butler hurried out the doors, before returning a few minutes later with the Seventh seat officer of the Fourth Division.

Hanatarou bowed towards Ichigo as soon as he saw him. "It is good to see you again, Leader-sama."

The seven other Council members' eyes widened at this, before directing their gaze at Ichigo. Ichigo simply smirked at their looks, before dismissing Hanatarou from the room.

He then turned his gaze towards Akito, answering everyone's silent question, "I am truly sorry about that, Akito. I forgot his name, but Hanatarou is in fact the spy we have in place in the Fourth Division. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, but as I just said, I forgot his name."

Soi laughed and said, "Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised to hear that. You've always had trouble with names, and Hanatarou is so normal it's actually really is hard to remember."

Ichigo grumbled a bit, before cheering up and saying, "If that is all the immediate business, then I believe it is time for us to begin our meal, don't you agree?"

----------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Ukitake wandered aimlessly throughout his division, seemingly as if he had no true destination in mind when he left his quarters. As he passed by the company mess hall, he noticed that it was eerily quiet in there. That just wasn't right. He should be hearing his two third seats arguing incessantly right about now, but all he heard was the low buzz of his Division.

He walked inside, and was greeted by his entire division, then subsequently ignored as his company went back to their meals and conversations. He saw Kentarou eating with the Fifth, Sixth, Eight, Twelfth, and Fifteenth seats, talking and chatting away the time.

He walked over to where they were and tapped his third seat on the shoulder. He raised an eyebrow in confusion as he asked, "Kentarou, where is Kiyone? I normally hear you two arguing all the way on the other side of Seiretei about this time."

Kentarou's face looked concerned as he addressed his captain, "I do not know, Captain. In fact, I haven't even seen her the entire day today. That in itself is quite curious, Ukitake-Taichou, as she always goes out of her way every day to annoy the 'life' out of me."

Ukitake scratched his head in annoyance and puzzlement, "Where in the world are you, Kiyone?" he said quietly. He then turned towards his male third seat and said, "Do not worry yourself, Kentarou, I will go find her myself." He laughed a little bit before continuing, "she always seems to come out of the woodwork every time I need her, so I am sure this time won't be any different."

------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Mizuho slightly jumped as she heard a knock on her door. She looked around frantically to make sure nobody else in the house had woken up before putting her shoes on and answering it. When she opened the door, her eyes teared up immediately, before she closed the door behind her and gripped her mother in a fierce hug.

Her mother returned her embrace, comforting her only daughter the best she knew how. She wiped the tears from Mizuho's cheeks, before asking, "How about we take a walk, little one? We wouldn't want to disturb your guests, would we?"

Mizuho giggled and nodded, making sure to walk slow so her mother would be able to keep up. As they neared a vending machine, Mizuho turned her head to her mother and asked, "Is it really true, Kaa-san? Did father really betray Soul Society?"

Momo sighed and replied, "It appears so, my little one. I'm still not entirely sure as to why, but for all intents and purposes, your father has betrayed and abandoned Soul Society."

------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they began to wrap up the main course, Hanajima turned towards Ichigo and asked, "Ichigo, I was wondering, how goes our plan to stop the two traitors?"

Ichigo sneered as he took a long gulp of blood red wine before answering. "Everything is going according to plan. The blind one has no idea that we have placed a Vaizard so closely to him. Even the snake has no idea, and he was always the brains behind that pair." He then snapped his fingers before addressing both Hanajima and her brother, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Hanajima and Shoji, I just received some news concerning your little sister."

Shoji growled, "Why would we care about that stupid whore?"

Ichigo smirked a little, "Well, it seems that about fifteen or sixteen years ago she got married and had a kid. And not only that, but you'll be happy to know that your nephew just recently joined us. I believe his name was Mizuiru Kojima."

The two siblings simply stared at him in astonishment. Soi jus laughed out loud at this.

-------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TBC


	11. Ch10:Ride or Die

Chapter Ten: Ride or Die

"I'm not a nice person, am I Shaolin?"

Soi raised an eyebrow in Ichigo's direction, crossing her legs as she lounged in her chair near the fireplace. After the Council of Elders had finished their meal, they had retired to the den that was in the condo above the restaurant. There, they continued to discuss the issues that needed to be discussed, as well as topics that probably had no business being discussed during a meeting as serious as this one was supposed to be. She and Ichigo were sitting next to each other, and he had leaned over and had whispered this into her ear.

She smoothed her facial features and asked, "And how, may I ask, are you a bad person? I mean, you are quite rough around the edges, but you're better than some."

He smirked and said, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Shaolin. What I meant was, should I have been gentler in broaching the news to the Hirawatari siblings concerning their nephew."

She smiled at him and rested her hand on his, "I wouldn't worry about it, Ichigo. They're just shocked, is all. I mean, wouldn't you be after not only learning that your sister you haven't seen in twenty years had a kid, but that that kid had become one of your fellow Vaizard warriors? I'm surprised they took the news so well, considering."

Ichigo nodded and looked around the room. The Hirawatari siblings sat next to each other, both of them staring at their respective wine glasses, occasionally taking a sip before going back to staring in silence. To tell the truth, Ichigo would have admitted that he was kind of crept out by their behavior. But he mentally agreed with Shaolin, they really did have a good reason to be acting as strange as they were.

Akito and Kiyone sat next to each other. Kiyone was blushing as red as a beat, the most likely cause was none other than Akito. Akito was smirking as she asked a whole bushel load of questions, mostly inappropriate, about Ukitake. Even a fool, or Ichigo, could tell that Kiyone had a major crush on the Thirteenth company Captain. Ichigo found it amusing. Shaolin, unfortunately, found it hilarious. Ichigo sometimes caught himself wondering if there was some kind of drug to control Shaolin's spontaneous bursts of laughter.

Finally, the geezers Fuji and Antonio, at least that's what Ichigo called them in private, sat comfortably facing the fireplace, laughing and drinking. Antonio's belly laugh boomed throughout the room as Fuji recalled a humorous situation from his glory days. Evidently, both he and Yamamoto had joined the Thirteen Court Guard Companies at the same time, and had been involved in several wars together, before the eventual split between the Vaizard and normal Shinigami.

He turned his attention back to the female sitting next to him, formulating his thoughts for a second, before whispering into her ear, "Any word on the progress of my sisters concerning their inner hollows?"

She turned her head towards his, so that her face was practically nuzzled against his neck, before replying to his question, "I just received the report from Shinji today. It appears that they both are in perfect health, if a little shaken up after the ordeal that they just went through. They should have no more problems with their hollows for another six to eight years, depending on how their souls mature." She turned her head and looked at him right in the eyes, "I'm assuming at that time you are going to want to go ahead and do the dominance ritual?"

He leaned his head closer to her ear and whispered, "Of course, dear Shaolin. Did the Arrancar manage to abduct Inoue-san?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah, and the Arrancar even managed to trick Soul Society into believing that she betrayed them and went of her own violation. Ichigo, are you okay with this?"

Before he could reply, they both noticed something was definitely wrong. They slowly turned their heads towards the others in the room, only to notice that the others were staring at them, _smirking _at them. Akito's smirk was absolutely vicious as she snapped her fingers. Ichigo and Shaolin only had the opportunity to make an 'eek!' kind of noise before the chairs they were sitting in both were transported to the other side of the room.

Needless to say, the sudden loss of chair beneath their bodies caused both of them to fall, on top of each other. Shaolin's fall was not as painful as Ichigo's, as he managed to break her fall. This of course caused the position they ended up in to be quite the compromising one. As they recovered from the shock of the sudden fall, both of them noticed how close they were to each other's face. Ichigo, being one not to let a good opportunity to slip past him, captured Shaolin's lips with his own.

Now, the last two times he had done this, Shaolin had somehow decided that throwing punches, kicks, and Suzemebachi at Ichigo's smirking face was a smart thing to do, regardless of who or what might be in the way. But instead of a little war in a confined space, Shaolin responded in kind to the kiss. Ichigo really didn't mind, he just assumed that the third time's the charm, as the saying goes.

After they had finished, and were retrieving their chairs and sitting back down, they acknowledged the presence of the other six Elders. Akito, Kiyone, and Hanajima were all blushing at what had happened, but were smiling at the two nonetheless. Shoji and Antonio both were red in the face, not because of a blush, but because they were both laughing way too hard for their continued health. Fuji did a very Fuji thing, he gave Ichigo a thumbs up sign.

------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------

Feeling a reiatsu signature approach, Ise Nanao walked over to the door of the office she shared with her Captain, wondering who could have come over here at this hour. As she opened the door, she smiled at Jyuushirou Ukitake. He must be in good health today, she thought, if he managed to make it to her Captain's office at this late hour.

He smiled at her as she greeted him at the door, "Hello Ise-san, how are you doing today?"

She bowed her head to him before replying, "I am doing quite well today, Captain Ukitake."

Shunsui didn't really feel like being left out of the conversation, so he decided to interrupt, "Jyuushirou, so good to see you, my old friend. Have you come to save me and my beautiful Nanao-chan from the evil overlord paperwork? Sake?"

Ukitake shook his head, "No thank you, Shunsui. And no, I am not here to save you from the evildoer known as paperwork. In fact I was looking for your Vice-Captain."

Nanao raised an eyebrow, "How might I be of service, Ukitake-Taichou?"

Ukitake replied, "Have you seen my female third seat, Kiyone Kotetsu? I have found that she has somehow disappeared for the day, and I was wondering if she had showed up to the Shinigami Women's Association meeting today."

Nanao's expression grew worried, "Actually, sir, I was about to send an inquiry to your office about her whereabouts. She never showed herself, neither at the meeting, nor for her weekly visit with her sister, this last part according to Isane when I talked to her earlier."

Shunsui immediately sobered up, "This is indeed a serious matter, Jyuushirou, what do you think we should do? Should we bring the matter up before Yamamoto?"

Ukitake frowned, before nodding, "That seems like to be the best choice at the moment. Let's go then."

-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

As the Elders were continuing to discuss important Vaizard things that needed to be discussed, (like the mental state of the average teenage girl, now that Don Kanonji had hit the big time), a foreign reiatsu hit them. They all turned their attention to the doorway, where a Shinigami of Seiretei entered.

The Shinigami was the Third seat of the Fifth Division, a lanky youth with spiky yellow hair. His eyes widened at the sight before him, but before the Elders could react, he hit a button on the silver wristband he wore, causing another three Shinigami to be summoned in the room. The Third seat of the First, the Fourth seat of the Tenth, and the Vice-Captain of the First. The Vice Captain rushed at Ichigo, stabbing him in the heart.

As he turned to the other Elders, he said, "This is an illegal gathering, all you will put up no resistance, and you will all come with me to be judged by Seiretei for your crimes."

An insane laugh was heard behind him, and he turned around in shock as Ichigo laughed. Ichigo, using no means of support at all, stood up on his own two feet. He brushed a hand over the wound, and with a small hiss the hole in his body and his tux suddenly disappeared.

Ichigo sneered as he approached the Vice-Captain. "Do you really think that we would be afraid of you, Shinigami? We are the Vaizard Elders, we have absolutely nothing to fear form the likes of you." His eyes turned the color of his hollow's, and his tongue turned blue as well. "I do hope you will forgive me for this, but I am afraid that I must learn of how you managed to learn of us."

Ichigo then forced the Vice-Captain's mouth open. He then shot his tongue, now the three yards in length, through the man's throat and into his brain. After only three seconds Ichigo got all the information that he needed, so he used his tongue to kill him off. He then repeated this process with the other three, before using Kidou to dispose of their bodies. His eyes grew back to normal, and he then walked back to his chair.

He turned back to the other Elders and said, "Now then, where were we? Ah yes, I believe we were discussing the importance of Television and its impact on the youths of today."

-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------

TBC

Omake-Commercials

Ichigo walked up to the counter and picked up the bottle of Germ-X. He then turned to the camera and said, "I endorse this product. Not only because of its effectiveness, but because nothing quite says 'I love you babe' like a chest covered in Germ-X."


	12. Ch11:Say it Right

Chapter Eleven: Say it Right

As the meeting of the Elders was winding down, Ichigo rose up from his chair and addressed the seven other leaders of the Vaizard. "Gentlemen, Ladies, I thank you for coming this evening. I know how much of a pain it is to come hear and still try and manage to remain under the radar. I wish you luck on your return trip back to your respective posts. Please, I only ask that you all be careful."

He bowed at the waist in a western style, one hand at his side holding his wine glass, the other at his heart. He straightened and turned his attention to the Hirawatari siblings. "I ask that you two not try to contact your nephew at this time." They both made as if to protest, but Ichigo forestalled them with a gesture of his hand. "I know that you both want to see him, but right now it would be better if Soul Society believes that he is one of those special cases that pop up now and then. It just wouldn't do for them to figure out who he is _really_ related to, now would it?"

Ichigo then looked over at the old men. "Fuji, Antonio, I want you two to start to develop into the Fourteenth War Scenario. It is imperative that we Vaizard are prepared to take appropriate action when the time comes. But be careful Gentlemen, as I just said to the Hirawatari siblings, I can't have Soul Society learn of our objectives prematurely."

Both of the Eldest of the Elders nodded their heads in acknowledgement of their new orders. Fuji raised an eyebrow and asked his grandson, "I just have one question, grandson. What are your plans concerning your father?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as well, "What do you mean by 'plans concerning my father'?"

Fuji stroked his white beard as he responded, "I mean, what do you plan to do if he, Urahara, and Yoroichi find out about this."

Ichigo simply sneered.

----------- --------------------------------------------------------

Yamamoto scratched at his chin in thought. "This is certainly distressing news, Ukitake-Taichou. For a third seat to just disappear like that is an uncommon occurrence indeed. It is especially distressing because usually that little female third seat of yours is attached to your hip like her life depended on it." He scratched at the scars on his face before adding, "Have you informed her older sister as of yet?"

Ukitake shook his head, "I thought it might be more prudent to ascertain her sister's whereabouts before I did something drastic like that. Kiyone could have just gotten herself lost or went on a hollow hunting mission without informing anyone. She has been prone to do that before, although she normally isn't missing for quite this long of a time period. But still, I didn't want to give Isane a heart attack and then have her sister show back up in perfect health. That's why I came to you, sensei. I was hoping you could help me find my female third seat without causing a ruckus or an uproar."

Yamamoto nodded at this, "That certainly does make sense, Jyuushirou. I will see what I can do for you. Now in the meantime, I would like for you to return to your division and rest. I will have Shunsui and his Fuku-taichou…" he scratched his head in puzzlement, "what was her name again?"

Nanao had to restrain herself from lashing out at the aging Captain-General; he was stronger than her after all, even if he was seemingly suffering from Alzheimer's. "Ise Nanao, sir."

Yamamoto's expression brightened, "Ah, yes, that was it. Shunsui and Nanao-chan will both keep you company while you wait for news of your third seat."

Ukitake tried to protest, but Yamamoto harrumphed him into silence. "This is not a negotiation, Ukitake. This is an order from me, if that will make you comply." Yamamoto smiled at him, "Don't worry so much, Jyuushirou. I am sure that everything will be fine. Now then, shoo, shoo. Go ahead and get out of here. I will make sure that Kiyone Kotetsu will be returned into your loving arms shortly, you have my word. You just go ahead and relax. It will make Unohana-Taichou's workload easier, if nothing else."

------------------------------------------------- ------------

Ichigo replied back to his grandfather, "If they do find out, and the Vaizard might be compromised by their knowledge, I swear to you that I will personally see to it that they will be silenced by my very own hand." Shaolin pouted at this, and Ichigo roared with laughter. He then said to her, "Okay, okay, Shaolin, I'll let you help me out if it comes to that."

She smiled at him and let him continue. He then said to Akito, "I need you to finish up your work on the special order I asked you to make. I also need you to make some small shot of red fire canisters for me to plant in specific areas, as well as three or four Black Vortexes. When you have finished that, I want your Kidou Canister makers to go into full production. The war is coming soon, and we the Vaizard people need to be fully prepared."

Akito nodded her head and said, "It shall be done as you asked, Ichigo. Where do you want me to deliver that doll that you requisitioned?"

"It's done?"

"It's done."

"Very well then. If you brought it along with you, I actually will need to use it tonight. I hope you don't mind."

Akito flipped her long thin strand of hair back behind her in a very haughty and arrogant manner before replying by saying, "I don't mind at all, Berry-tan. It is my privilege and honor to be of service to your greatness."

Ichigo rubbed his forehead in frustration, "Can somebody tell me again why I put up with all of you?"

Akito frowned in thought before becoming overly cheerful and replying, "It's because of the perks of being our comrades at Breakfast."

Ichigo sighed.

----------------------------------- --------------------------------

Yamamoto said, "I see, I am glad I had prepared for this eventuality."

Everyone that had crowded in Orihime Inoue's tiny apartment turned quickly around, only to be met with the fearsome sight of Captain's Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki.

Zaraki's face was grim as he said to the assembled group, "You will come along quietly."

Byakuya's face was even stonier than normal as he gazed at the rabble staring in shock at the two of them, "We have been instructed to bring you back to Soul Society, by force if necessary."

As the gate from the real world to Soul Society was closing behind him, Byakuya could have sworn he could hear insane, mocking laughter echoing through night.

---------------------------------- --------------------------------------

Ichigo sneered as the five he had addressed left the condo and headed towards the many different exits from the casino proper. He turned towards Shaolin and said, "You were right, my dear, dear Shaolin Fon. Soul Society actually believed that that fool of a girl Orihime actually had the guts to betray them."

Shaolin smirked as well, but they were both interrupted by Kiyone who said, "I don't know about you, but I believe it is time we got back to Soul Society."

Shaolin smiled mischievously at her, "What, are you that anxious to ogle your Captain?"

Kiyone blushed a deep scarlet red, "I swear, you and Akito are just two of a kind."

Shaolin smiled, "Thank you."

"Not a compliment."

------------------------------------------- -------------------------

Yamamoto's eyes snapped open as the video uplink hissed with static before clicking on. He turned his attention to the screen and awaited the report from the Twelfth Division, namely Akon and his batch of hooligans.

Akon seemed to be sweating bullets as he made his report, "Captain-General Yamamoto, we have discovered the location of Soi Fon Taichou and Kiyone Kotetsu. It appears that they are under attack by a Diatagara, or as you may already know, a warrior body of the Lichen race."

Yamamoto muttered, "I thought they were all dead." He turned his attention back to the scientist and asked, "Is it an actual Lichen?"

"No sir, it appears to simply be a highly evolved Diatagara, nothing more."

As Yamamoto sent out assistance to the two Shinigami under attack, he recalled all the pertinent details regarding the Diatagara and their masters, the Lichen.

The Lichen were an anomalous race of beings who had had great spiritual power. They were a group of evil wholes who had not passed on into the afterlife. They just did not wish to go and pass on. They managed to tamper with themselves enough so that were able to possess their very own corpses and continue to live in the mortal world. Then, using their great powers, they could devour other souls and continue to live for all eternity.

Needless to say, this upset the natural balance, and so they were relentlessly hunted down and slaughtered by the Shinigami. In order to protect themselves, they harnessed the power of Kidou far beyond the possible maximum that a Shinigami could hope to achieve. They used this mastery of Kidou to make for themselves unnatural servants, known as Diatagara.

The Diatagara were seemingly metallic constructs, often appearing in bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and ebony. They were Spider like constructs, but often having a reptilian or avian head instead of an arachnid one. They ranged in size from eight feet in diameter to eighty feet in diameter. The weaker ones were bronze, while the strongest ones were ebony.

The Diatagara were to powerful, however, and proved to be too much for their Lichen masters to handle after almost two millennia had past. Eventually, between both deaths by Shinigami and their own creations, Lichens were wiped out from the face of the earth. Their constructs still survived, though they were few in number. They also went into hibernation, trying to conserve their power for one last task that was to be set by their masters, which would never come.

He heard someone flash step in behind him, and he turned around in order to acknowledge the presence of the Second Division Captain. She bowed her head as she gave her report. "Please forgive me for my late arrival, Yamamoto-dono. I was assisting Kiyone-san in her training in the areas of both shun-po and hand to hand combat, since she had requested this of me after our last SWA meeting. After we had wrapped up our training for the day, a platinum spider like creature attacked us. I do not know exactly how to explain it sir, I just know that it had abilities that could rival that of a Captain. It had excellent mastery of Shun-po and of Kidou. I regret to inform you that it got away. Because of this, I am willing to take any punishment for my failure."

Yamamoto simply chuckled at her. "Do not worry, Soi Fon, I am just glad that none of my fellow Shinigami were seriously hurt. You should head back to your division and catch up on your sleep. I will inform Ukitake about the arrangement you had made with his third seat. Good night."

----------------------------------- ------------------------

As Akon watched on, his underlings sent out the pertinent data to the Captain-General concerning the 'attack'. When the connection was terminated, he crossed his arms and looked to the man standing in the shadows in the back of the room.

"Was that all you needed me to do?"

The man in the shadows replied, "Actually, I need either you or one of your subordinates to make sure that this Diatagara gets back to its owner. This is Akito's baby after all, and I don't think I would hear the end of it if it did not get back to her pronto."

Akon nodded and made a notation on the clipboard that he was holding. "Anything else, Kurosaki-sama?"

Ichigo walked forwards into the light, and headed towards the gate to the real world. "Just do what you always do when I visit…"

Akon finished off his sentence for him, "…alter the recording so nobody gets suspicious. Next time you visit, could you bring some more of that coffee?"

Ichigo smirked as he readjusted Zangetsu on his back, "Sure thing, Akon. Just try not to go through two hundred pounds of the stuff in two weeks again."

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TBC


	13. Ch12: You Remind Me

Chapter Twelve: You Remind Me

Kiyone sat across from her Captain, taking as much care as possible not to show her uneasiness to him. It wouldn't do for him to learn about that, now would it? She watched on in silence as he continued to fill out several sheets of paperwork, pausing occasionally to take a sip of the tea that was set in front of him. He had already refilled his cup five times. She, on the other hand, had barely even touched hers.

She clenched her hands tighter in order to keep from blurting out things she knew she shouldn't. She looked over to her side, noticing that they were both truly alone together. Although she was happy that something like this was happening, she sorely wished it was under different circumstances. She had always pictured this scenario to be more of romantic nature. Instead, she sat there quietly, awaiting what was probably a stern lecture in the making. She looked on impassively as her Captain took a sip of tea, with only the years of training she had keeping her from blushing.

_One day, she would have to walk in here and destroy everything that her Captain treasured and loved._

Ukitake finished up his reports and stacked them in a neat pile on one side of the table. He then poured himself some more tea, taking care to not spill a single drop. He then took a small sip before setting the cup back down and focusing his attention on her.

_One day, she would destroy his treasured tea set given to him by one of his siblings. _

She could not meet his gaze as he cleared his throat before he spoke to her. He gave her a concerned expression as he asked, "Why did you not tell me where you were going today, Kiyone? You had the entire division worried sick about you." He chuckled softly, "Well, I'm sick already, so I guess I don't really count in that department. But still, even if I'm already sick, I was still worried that you might have gotten hurt."

_One day, the division she was a part of would be burned and disassembled at her hand._

She bowed her head to him, "I am truly sorry Captain. I just…"

Thinking he knew what she meant, he said, "I know Kiyone. You are as worried as the rest of us about Aizen's betrayal, and I know you wanted to get stronger so you could help me… and the others out." He faked a couch in order to hide his embarrassment at the unfortunate slip of the tongue. Kiyone smiled inwardly at this. It appeared that her Captain didn't consider their relationship strictly professional.

_One day, the only relationship that they would have would be one of enemies._

He coughed again and went on, "Anyway, I just wanted to get across to you how much this division and I care about your well being. I am glad for you though. It takes guts to even walk near that woman, let alone ask her to train you. That must have taken a great amount of courage, Kiyone, and I would be surprised if you could find someone as courageous as you in that regard."

Kiyone tilted her head to the side and placed a delicate finger to her bottom lip, "Zaraki-Taichou could have done it as well Captain, as well as many others, so please don't put me on a pedestal."

"You do have a very valid point about Zaraki, but that's not the type of courage that I am talking about. His kind of courage stems from his complete and total insanity."

Kiyone made a little fake sounding gasp, "Ukitake-Taichou! I never knew you could talk about another Captain like that. And here I was thinking that you liked everybody."

Ukitake managed to choke on his tea, coughing and sputtering, trying his hardest not to laugh himself to an early death.

_One day, all of his laughter would cease, and she would be the cause. _

He downed three more cups before he even attempted to try and continue speaking. "Anyway, I'm glad that you are okay and that you are doing your best to become stronger. How are the new recruits holding up, by the way? They seemed rather skittish this entire week."

Kiyone smiled at him, "They are just really nervous sir. Not only are they inexperienced in the field of battle, they will all be apart of the upcoming winter war. I'm not even entirely sure we should even consider to field them at any time during the fighting. More than likely they will all be easily and effortlessly wiped out. And as weak as they seem now, a couple could one day become single digit seat material. It would be a waist to waste potential talent so we can have some extra cannon fodder."

Ukitake nodded and frowned in thought, "I agree with you about them, Kiyone. I don't seriously think that Sensei will actually field them. He is always droning on and on about the future of the Shinigami and how it is our duty to nurture the potential growth of that future. For one so old, it can be quite surprising how long he can keep it up."

_One day, he would learn what she really looked like, and would feel betrayed that she never showed him before. _

He laughed again as he stood up. He scurried about, putting up all the tea and china. As he did this, Kiyone was reminded of something Ichigo had said to her,

"_**Don't get involved to deeply with him, Kiyone." He had said to her after one of the Elder meetings.**_

"_**I have no idea what you mean by that, Ichigo." She turned away from him and started to walk away, not wanting to hear another word. **_

_**He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him, "You know exactly what I mean, Kiyone. I don't care if you act nice around him. I don't care if you seduce him into your bed. But whatever you do, please don't fall in love with him. It will only cause you pain in the end."**_

Unfortunately for her, it was already far too late. As much as she wanted to deny it, as much as she tried to deny it, there was no denying it. She was totally and unashamedly in love with her Captain, the one man she knew she should have never fallen in love with. She only hoped that he didn't love her back, but that was starting to change as well.

It would be easier when the time comes if he didn't love her, that way the betrayal would not cut him so deeply. But try as hard as she might to stop him from falling for her, even Ichigo the idiot could tell his opinion towards her had changed. His actions spoke louder than words, in the way he acted around her, in the way he occasionally say things that he did not mean to in her presence, and in the way he had scoured Soul Society looking for her.

They both had feelings of love towards the other, they both wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately, that could never happen.

_One day, she would break his heart into a thousand pieces. _

He walked back over to her assisted her as she stood up. He then led her outside the office and into the night air. Closing the door behind him, he offered her his arm as they walked back to her quarters.

The moon was unobscured, shining brightly at the pair as they walked. The occasional hoot of an owl did not pierce the atmosphere between the two, it simply added flavor and color to their walk. She noticed that her Captain must have gotten a little better. He was no longer walking as slumped as he had been. He now exuded strength as he led her along the path.

When they arrived at her door, he let her go. But he did something different than normal when saying goodnight to her. He bent down slightly and enveloped her in a warm and gentle hug. She hugged him back, not wanting the moment to end, cause she knew what would happen one day should it end.

_One day, she would have to kill the man she loves more than life itself._

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Urahara and Isshin sat across from each other, both thinking deep thoughts. Okay, maybe not_ that_ deep, but for them it was deep. They had just sent off four young teenage boys to Hueco Mundo. Keigo, Mizuiru, Chad, and Uryu all went to Hueco Mundo in order to attempt to rescue Orihime Inoue. They still were unsure what Aizen was going to do with her powers as of yet, so it was imperative that they did not find out the hard way.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The masked Shinigami, the Vaizard, were up to something. Urahara was trying to dig up exactly what it was, but so far he had had no luck.

Isshin took a swig of sake, "What am I going to do, Urahara?"

Urahara scratched his chin, "What do you mean, Isshin?"

Isshin let out a frustrated sigh, "It's about my children. My little girls have not been training or anything for the past couple of days. They even go missing and don't come home till extremely late at night, or even not at all. When I try to ask them about where they've been, they blow me off or give me vague or cryptic answers. I don't even want to get into Ichigo."

Urahara snapped open his fan, "What is wrong with you son?"

"He really hasn't seemed to be himself lately. He hasn't even once inquired about the strange happening around Karakura, and even though he feigns ignorance, I know that he can see the phenomena. He disappears more than his sisters, and because of that I often don't see him for days or weeks on end."

Urahara held the fan to his face, "Maybe he is ignoring all the supernatural. He might associate those kinds of things with his mother, and so either consciously or subconsciously he blocks that stuff out. He probably does this so he doesn't snap. If you remember, the incident of his mother's death caused your son's soul to wander away form his body for almost six months. It's probably for the best that he doesn't get involved."

Isshin nodded. He then decided that he and Urahara should get hammered. Ah, the joys of living in a temporary body. Who needs to worry about ones liver when you can easily get an entirely new and healthy body?

--------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------

Ichigo awoke in his inner landscape, noticing that for all appearances he was alone amongst gravity defying sky-scrapers. He noticed that the inner landscape was experiencing sundown, casting the sky above into a wide array of colors.

"_Yare, yare. I never would have expected you to come willingly back here, my Oumono."_

Standing behind Ichigo was none other than _Ichigo_. The hollow was sneering at him, same as it always did.

Ichigo cut off any further conversation, before plunging on and asking a question, "Do you know how I might be able to use Kidou spells by flicking Zangetsu?"

_Ichigo_ relaxed his face and rubbed his chin in thought. "_You might be able to do a couple of techniques using you sword. If you were to spin it, not only could use Kidou to turn Zan-chan into a shield, you could probably use Shot of Red Fire and other techniques by spinning and charging the spell, then stopping the blade suddenly so that the technique gets thrown by the sword. Because of the great amounts of kinetic energy that had been built up, it should allow you to add better speed to the spells."_

Ichigo nodded and began to concentrate in order to get back to reality. As he was leaving, _Ichigo _had something to say.

"Remember, Oumono, that your only the King now because you instinct was greater than mine. But never forget, if you let up for even a single instant, I will reach up and rip you form your throne, and I will keep you in the stables forever!"

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TBC


	14. Ch13: The Final Countdown Part One

Chapter Thirteen: The Final Countdown, Part One

The Guardian of Las Noches loomed overhead, causing Nell and her Arrancar companions to quiver in fear. Its masked face made of sand seemed to twist into horrid visages, leering at the so called trash.

Mizuiru knew that he must use his zanpakutoh on it, considering that it was made of sand and all. But just as he was about to call out his zanpakutoh, he heard from behind him,

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

The large Arrancar was instantly frozen solid by the attack. As it crumbled to the ground in a thousand pieces, Mizuiru whipped around to face the Shinigami that stood behind him. Rukia had her sword extended, as she had just launched her zanpakutoh's attack. Renji stood slightly to her right and behind her. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his Zabimaru sheathed and strapped to his hip. And there was someone else standing behind Rukia on her left. He was a second division member. His sword was strapped to his waist, though horizontally behind him. His mask was kept in place, obscuring his face from view. But both Mizuiru and Keigo already knew who he was.

He was their Vaizard leader, after all.

Rukia smiled at Mizuiru as she made her way down the hill. He just looked at her as if to ask 'what took you so long?'. She stopped right in front of him, and just stood there, gazing into his eyes. He gazed right back into hers. Just as they were both about to be lost in each other's eyes, however, they were interrupted by the orange haired Shinigami of the Second Division.

"I do not mean to be rude, you two. But I believe it would be prudent to move along as quickly as possible. And while the whole romantic scene between you both is quite entertaining, I also believe that it is taking up valuable time. So then I propose a solution" He then turned his attention to Mizuiru, "Kiss her and be done with it."

Mizuiru thought about for all of a nano-second before complying. He quickly grabbed Rukia by the shoulders and brought her closer to him before placing his lips on hers. It took her longer to comply, but in the end she did so by pressing back with as much force as her male counterpart.

Both of them were blushing as they broke the kiss, but they seemed quite happy and content with what had just happened. Renji, however, did not look pleased. He wasn't upset about them getting together. Oh no, far from it. The only problem with those two getting together was that Rukia's brother would probably gain a very sour disposition. And then he would take it out on his subordinates. Which meant he would take it out on Renji. The form of his displeasure would probably end up being loads and loads and _loads_ of paperwork.

Renji had thought it before, but he knew it for a fact now. _His life sucked_.

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Isane silently crept out of Seiretei. She was tailing her sister, making sure she was actually training. Knowing her sister, she was probably just heading out into Rukongai in order to have a good time, and had somehow or another had managed to get Soi Fon-Taichou to cover for her so that she wouldn't get in trouble.

Now it wasn't that Isane didn't trust her younger sister, it was just that sometimes Kiyone had been known to make a little white lie here and there. So Isane was just making sure that her sister was actually training. If she was, she would head back to Seiretei immediately. She had no business peaking on her sister's training longer than necessary.

As she came upon a clearing in the forest, she spotted Soi-Fon Taichou and another female Shinigami fighting in hand to hand combat. They moved with a kind of brutal yet fluid grace as they tried to land hits against one another. It seemed that neither had the true upper hand as they fought each other. Then suddenly, they both landed blows to each other that sent them flying.

Neither of them crashed, both of them having bounced on their hands and had performed a flip in order to land back on their feet. They slid back into ready stances and started to slowly circle each other, panting and sweating profusely. As the Second Division Captain's opponent's face came into view, Isane almost let out a gasp that would have surely given away her position to the two warriors.

Soi Fon's opponent was an older version of Kiyone. She was about the same height as her elder sister, and her face had matured to look a little bit more like Isane's as well. Unlike her younger incarnation, the new Kiyone had long hair that normally would more than likely reach the base of her spine. Her hair was tied in a braid at the moment, swaying like a rope in the wind.

Unbeknownst to Isane, Akito Smith was standing in a tree no farther than ten meters from her. This was not good, she thought, this was not good at all. She needed to contact Ichigo to inform him of this incident. She closed her eyes and calmed her mind, before trying to establish a mental connection with her Leader.

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As they had stormed the dark palace Las Noches, the seven infiltrators had been forced to split up upon the discovery of a five way split in the path before them. Ichigo and Chad both went the same path, while, Keigo, Renji, and Uryu went by themselves. This left the lovebirds, a.k.a. Mizuiru and Rukia, to take the last path.

As Ichigo raced through the palace along with Chad, he noticed that one of his seven Elders was trying to establish a mental connection with him. Not seeing a way to temporarily stop in order to take the "call", he put her on hold.

-------------------------------------------- -----------------

Akito mentally growled. How dare he! He knew how much she hated 'Smack That', she had told him often enough. But _noooo, _ he just _had_ to do everything in his power to annoy the crap out of her. She never knew how he did it either. Seriously, how in the world does one going about programming music to play when one puts them on mental 'hold'?

-------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

As Ichigo and Chad raced through the halls, they were intercepted by an Arrancar of low rank. More than likely, he had once been an Espada, making him a Privaron. As Chad began to engage him in battle, Ichigo moved to the sidelines and finalized the connection between himself and his subordinate.

Akito's voice broke through to him, "_What the fuck took you so long to answer you miserable excuse for a Leader?"_

Ichigo mentally chuckled, _"Sorry about that, Akito. I just didn't think it prudent to stop suddenly in the middle of a hall in Las Noches just so I could talk to one of my Elders."_

Akito's voice sighed, "_Anyway, I believe I have some bad news. It appears that Isane Kotetsu has spotted Kiyone's true form. What should we do?"_

Ichigo's reply was quick and precise, _"First, I want you to knock her out. Then inject her with enough alcohol for her to be slightly drunk. Then I want you to get Hanatarou Yamada drunk as well. Then place them both in her quarters with several jugs of sake. Also put a couple empty jugs in there as well, if you would. Hopefully something will 'happen', and she will decide that what she just saw was merely a dream. Good luck."_

And with that, Ichigo broke off the connection.

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TBC

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AN: Sorry about the late updates, Marching Band Camp was this week.

Chapter is kind of short, but I will try to have the next three in by next Thursday.

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	15. Ch14: The Final Countdown P2, Rhapsody

Chapter Fourteen: The Final Countdown, Part Two: The Rhapsody

When Isane awoke in her chambers, she noticed that several things were different from the norm. The one that first grabbed her attention was that it was extremely cold. As she wondered what might be the cause, she heard the sound of wind howling. Ah, that must be it. She must have accidentally left the window open.

She then noticed something else; she had an extremely painful migraine at the moment. And as curious as she was to figuring out her predicament, she didn't want to bring herself any more pain by opening her eyes. As she tried to shut her eyes tighter, she noticed that the 'pillow' she was currently resting on was exhibiting strange behavior. It kept on rising and falling.

There it went again. Why in the world couldn't her pillow just keep still while she was resting on it? It wasn't acting like a pillow at all. It wasn't very soft, for one thing, although it was comfortable. And it seemed to give off its own heat, not that she was complaining, mind you, she kind of liked it. The strangest thing was steady rise and fall, accompanied by an intake and exhale of breath. Now, normally she would have figured what her pillow really was a lot quicker, but she had the worst hangover she had ever personally experienced, and it even hurt to think.

Her body gave a miniscule jolt as the medical training part of her brain kicked in and gave her the answer. She slowly opened her eyes, and as they adjusted to the light, her suspicions were confirmed. Her 'pillow' was a masculine and well defined chest. She looked down at her left arm, and noticed it was draped across the man's stomach. She also noted that the man she was snuggled against had his arm wrapped around her, hugging her to him.

Being careful not to wake the man she was cuddled with, she slowly lifted her in an attempt to see his face. She gave a little squeak of surprise when she saw it. It was none other than the face of the man she fancied, Hanatarou Yamada. How in the world had this happened? She remembered that she had seen her sister head out for training, and then Isane couldn't remember clearly what had happened after that. Well, she did remember a few drunken moments, now that her headache was starting to clear. She remembered that they had both been in her room, drinking and laughing. She blushed as she recalled the 'exercise' they had participated in. She knew she hadn't dreamed this, mostly because of the state of dress, or undress, that they were both in.

She felt Hanatarou begin to stir, so she tightened her grip on him so he wouldn't be able to run away. He opened his, blinked a few times, then looked at her and smiled. She smiled back and rested her head on his chest once more and closed her eyes. It was their day off after all, so there was no problem with sleeping a couple of extra hours.

---------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------

As both Ishida and Renji stared in shock at the reappearance of the Eighth Espada, neither of them noticed the presence that came from behind them. Before anyone could do anything, the orange haired Shinigami from earlier shun-po'd behind Renji and knocked him out. He then caught Renji as he fell, before slowly lowering him to the ground. He then flickered in and out of sight, suddenly having Chad slung over his shoulder. He laid Chad down next to Renji, before straightening and turning to face the Eighth Espada and the Quincy.

Ishida let out a gasp when the Shinigami did so, for his face mask somehow been ripped away, allowing the Quincy to see his face. And that face was none other than Ichigo Kurosaki, the one person in Uryu's class who could see ghosts who he thought didn't know about the Shinigami. Yet here the Strawberry stood, clad in the uniform of the second division. Ichigo nodded in his direction, before smirking. Uryu silently fumed. Even though Ichigo now seemed to be a mature Shinigami, he still had the ability to piss Uryu off just by showing that dumb smirk of his.

"Hey there Ishida, how ya been lately?" said Ichigo in the most arrogant and annoying voice possible. "Well, anyway, it seems that Keigo managed to rescue Inoue, and Mizuiru has just reported in saying that he has Rukia. So how about we blow this joint?"

Ichigo reached towards his face and pulled his hollow mask out of thin air. He then drew a pentagram in the air, before placing his arms in the center of the design. Power coursed through him and a source less torrential wind tried to knock him off his feet. After a few seconds, he, Uryu, Chad, and Renji were enveloped in a dark purple hued light, before disappearing from the room.

Elsewhere, both of the groups that were with Mizuiru and Keigo also disappeared in a similar colored light.

------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------

When they arrived back on Earth, Urahara was waiting for them. He had his three assistants carry those that were unconscious back to his Shoten. As they were being taken back, Kisuke turned to the others, trying to discern for himself the exact extent of what had transpired. Most of them looked like hell, except for the one in the second division garb. And when Urahara tried to get a look at his face, he nearly fell down in shock at the sight of the hollow mask that was on the young one's face.

Just then, Isshin suddenly flashed stepped into their presence. The Vaizard took one look at him before shun-poing the heck out of there. Isshin responded to impulse and took off after him.

They went all over Karakura. They went through buildings and parks, across rivers and empty lots. Every time Isshin thought he had caught up to the man, the masked Shinigami would increase the pace even more or simply outmaneuver him. It went like this for almost ten minutes before the Vaizard suddenly went faster than Isshin thought physically possible and gave him the slip.

As Isshin was about to head back to Urahara Shoten, he noticed that he was in the cemetery where his wife's memorial stone was kept. In fact, Isshin was standing right in front of it. Isshin frowned in thought, when he spotted the fresh offerings. In fact, they were so fresh it looked like they had just been placed there.

----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

TBC

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	16. Ch15: The Final Countdown P3, Grillz

Chapter Fifteen: The Final Countdown, Part Three: Grillz

On the outskirts of Kyoto there was a giant complex, almost twenty six stories high and seven to eight hundred yards in length. No roads led up to it, as it was surrounded on all sides by the 'shell' of a mountain. Thus, it was obscured from sight, allowing the ones who used this facility complete and total anonymity. This was considered its most important facet, as the people inside would be faced with death should the wrong people ever find out the building's location.

This was the headquarters of every single Vaizard warrior. In its halls, it housed libraries and living space. Its aesthetic blend of an office building and a hospital added to its formidable presence and impact on those who were new to the ways of the masked Shinigami. Not only did it have offices, one wing of the facility was an actual hospital. And at this very moment, Ichigo of the Kurosaki family was walking inside that very medical wing.

He passed by very few people, mostly the ever vigilant nursing staff and the doctors that were currently on call. They all smiled and nodded at him as he walked past, as he was a frequent visitor to this wing of the Vaizard Complex. He also was one of their few early supporters on the Vaizard Elder Council. Hanajima and Ichigo not only funded this wing, they were also instrumental in its firm foundation, and they were chiefly responsible for the many laws and codes concerning health and welfare for the Vaizard as a whole.

As he turned a corner, he noticed that one of the lights in the hallway he was in was starting to flicker in and out. Gesturing with his hand and using just a tiny bit of Kidou, he called one of the handheld radios over to him. A loud click-clack noise echoed throughout the hall as the said radio detached itself from the wall and levitated over to Ichigo's hand. He then flipped the switch to turn it on, before turning to channel Five. He pressed the switch on the side and spoke into the small black device,

"This is Overlord, requesting assistance from a Janitor, over"

Some static was heard for a while, before a deep voice responded, "This is Janitor Forty Three Alpha, how may I be of service? Over."

Ichigo pressed the button again and said, "One of the lights in hallway Twenty six Forty three Seventy nine has gone out, and is causing a reiatsu leak that could become problematic. I need either you or someone qualified to come down here and get it fixed, over."

"I read you loud and clear, Overlord. I should be able to get there within two to six minutes, depending on how long it takes me to open that stubborn maintenance door. But other than that, it should be no problem. I hope you have a good day sir, over and out."

With that, Ichigo turned the radio back to channel one before flipping the power switch to the off position. He then placed it back on the wall, before continuing down the hallway, taking a left at the very end. As he walked down the dimly lit hallway, he noticed that the nurses had turned off most of the lights here, keeping only a few of them on. The Nurse's station was the only thing brightly lit, with the other semi-important areas only dimly so. He kindly and politely greeted the three nurses on duty, checking the information on the clipboard that they gave him.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement as he flipped one of the pages, and had to restrain himself from laughing at how the patient had obtained his injuries. Evidently the young Vaizard had yet again done something to piss off his girlfriend and had gotten severe injuries in retaliation. Ichigo smile turned to a frown, however, when he noted that Little Tony had gotten severe injuries due to an attack by several Menos. He had been delivering a message to one of their informant in Hueco Mundo when it had happened, and had bitten off more than he could chew.

Ichigo sighed and set the clipboard back down before heading into the office behind the Nurse's station. It was his office. He set his Zanpakutoh down on his desk, before turning around and closing the door. After he shut the blinds, he proceeded to remove his second division uniform and change into a dark blue polo, khaki's, and dark brown shoes. He then put the Shinigami in the laundry basket before heading over to the coat stand and removing his white doctor's coat from the hook it was place on. Patting one of his coat pockets to insure that he indeed had his glasses on his person, he opened the blinds and the door before walking out of the office.

Nodding again to the Nurses and picking up the clipboard with the medical charts, he walked into the first exam room, noticing as he did so that the young man that had received harm from his irate girlfriend was sleeping soundly. Ichigo winced when he saw that the young woman had completely ripped off her boyfriend's arm. Not that this was anything new, as she had the tendency to be violent towards anybody that even _breathed_ near her during _that time_ of the month. What made the situation worse was that the boy didn't realize that it wasn't a smart thing to go out of his way to piss the girl off. Ichigo set the boy up on an IV, adding both the limb regrowth medicine and a drug he had developed that caused the patient to go into a 24 hour long coma. Ichigo chuckled as he finished up the boy's paperwork, thinking, _ah, to be young and 13 again._

He then moved to the next exam room, and had to force himself not to gag. The teenage boy lying on the hospital bed had gaping wounds all over his body. His flesh was unnaturally pale, his reiatsu unnaturally low. If Ichigo didn't know any better, he would have thought the young man dead. He checked the boy's chart again, and frowned in recognition at the name. It was Tony Bortecelli Jr., Antonio's own grandson. Little Tony's vitals did not look good, and Ichigo knew he would have to pull some serious miracles if he wanted this boy to live to see another day.

----------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------

Ichigo sighed in weariness before taking another large gulp of coffee directly from the pot. It felt good to have that scalding warmth envelope his body. The caffeine was an added bonus as well. He finished the pot in two to three more large gulps before turning around and heading for one of the lounge chairs near the fire. He was currently in the lounge, or as it was known by the family members of the patients, a comfortable hell.

Sitting across from him in another of the comfortable lounge chairs was his patient's grandfather, Antonio. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, but had hardly touched it due to nervousness. He looked towards Ichigo expectantly, waiting for news about his Grandson's condition. Ichigo cleared his throat a couple of times, before saying,

"It's good news, Antonio. Your Grandson will be just fine." Antonio's shoulders slumped and his whole body began to loosen up, Ichigo continued. "He has an iron will, Antonio, that's the only reason he managed to survive this long. I just have one question, where was his backup?"

Antonio frowned slightly as he replied, "He's dead. Probably killed in the ambush. It was about Thirteen Adjuchas, Ichigo, and even you or I would be at least scratched, and they aren't nearly as strong as us."

Ichigo nodded, "You have a very valid point there. Just make sure he doesn't do anything reckless. Come, let's go for a walk. You look like you could use it."

They got up, refilled their coffee, and headed even further into the deep recesses of the hospital wing of the Complex. As they passed department after department, Antonio finally became bored of the silence and asked, "I never asked Ichigo, but what was it like?"

Ichigo looked at him in confusion, "What was what like?"

Antonio responded, "What was it like when you fell through the Vortex?"

Ichigo involuntarily shuddered at the memory, "It was horrible, if you really want to know. For over five years I could see nothing but darkness, and I had no equilibrium at all, meaning I just kept on floating and drifting through that accursed place."

Antonio nodded his head in sympathy, "I hope it never happens to another Vaizard ever again."

Ichigo hoped so too. When he had been nine years old, he and his mother had been attacked by the hollow known as Grand Fisher. When Ichigo had been ripped from his body, his inner hollow had awoken and had gone on a complete rampage, killing the Vaizard Vice-Captain of the Second Division, and nearly ending the life of the Captain of said division. After he had been restrained by the Vaizard elders Antonio, Hanajima, Akito, Fuji, and Shoji, he had been forced to face his inner hollow. This allowed Ichigo to take back control, but since he was so young, he accidentally opened a portal to Hueco Mundo.

He had then fallen into the portal, and since he had had no experience before hand in dealing with anything even remotely resembling controlling his powers, he had fallen off the path. He had gotten caught in one of the outer currents, and had been thrust through the empty void, till he came upon the Vortex.

Now the Vortex was an unstable dimension that existed between the path to Hueco Mundo and the entrance to Hell. It was always changing, being peaceful one second, before becoming a raging storm of darkness the next. But he had not been alone in that damnable place, no, he had been forced to spend it with twisted and malformed creatures of evil that took up residence in that place between Hell and Hollow. Never in those five years of torture did Ichigo ever have a day of peace. Even though it wasn't hell, it was just like it for the young Ichigo.

When he had finally been flung out of the Vortex, he landed back in the real world. He landed on Antonio, as a matter of fact. After he had recovered slightly, Ichigo asked the old man where the others were. Antonio had looked at him in confusion and had told him he had never seen him before in his life. After a few more minutes of interrogation, Antonio managed to glean enough information. Ichigo, an inexperienced Vaizard, had accidentally been flung into the Vortex. Not only that, but when the young boy escaped, he had wound up in Italy in the year 1962, over twenty years before he had been born.

Antonio had taken good care of the boy, and taught him everything he knew about being a Vaizard. It was under Antonio's tutelage that Ichigo had met the Hirawatari siblings, and had formed a friendship with them. It was because of this friendship that he had eventually received Vaizard and Human medical training, becoming one of the top ten most proficient Vaizard doctors. He took care not to affect the timeline, and had managed to avoid his parents whenever he was in the vicinity of either Japan or Soul Society.

Both Antonio and Ichigo arrived at the long term care part of the hospital wing, pausing to let Ichigo sign his name on the clipboard outside one of the rooms. He and Antonio both then entered the room quietly, as to not disturb anyone who might be sleeping. Ichigo walked over to the bed and pulled up a chair, nodding his head at Hanajima as she checked the vitals of the woman laying in a coma on the bed. Ichigo took one of the sleeping woman's hands in his own, gazing at her with love and sorrow. Antonio sat in a chair near the nightstand on the wall facing the foot of the woman's bed. Hanajima joined him and sat on the other side of the nightstand, saying a polite thank you to him when he offered her a cup of coffee. They all stared at the woman laying in the bed in sadness, for they had all known her well before she had fallen into the coma. Her husband and daughters thought her dead, but it took more than a grand cero blast to take out a former leader of the Vaizard.

And as the night wore on, the three Elders sat in silence in the hospital room of Masaki Kurosaki.

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TBC

AN: I had originally had planned something completely different for this chapter, but I am kind of glad that I got some of the back-story taken care of. I might have another chapter on Thursday, but there's no guarantee. I should have it by Saturday night at the latest. Peace.

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	17. Ch16: The Final Countdown P4, Puppet

Chapter Sixteen: The Final Countdown, Part Four: Puppet

In a remote part of Soul Society, three of the most deadly enemies of Seiretei were gathered. They were Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tousen. The two subordinates were standing beneath an apple tree, while their leader was perched in one of the many large branches. Aizen wore his usual smirk of satisfaction. Gin was nonchalant, but Tousen had a look of confusion plastered on his face. He looked towards his leader and asked a question.

"Aizen-sama."

"Yes, Kaname? What is it?"

"Why are we here in Soul Society alone?"

Aizen simply smirked at him, "We are here because I need to take care of a little errand. It shouldn't take to long, but I will need both of you two to create a suitable distraction while I retrieve the item in question. Am I clear?"

Both of his subordinates bowed their heads in acknowledgement, "Perfectly, Aizen-sama."

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As Tatsuki was on the final stretch of her after practice, she noticed that the price of her favorite drink in the vending machine had gone. Having to physically restrain herself from do an embarrassing little jig in the middle of the street, she reached in her pockets for the appropriate amount of change necessary. After she had hit the button, she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for that small bottle of heaven to drop down from the vending machine.

After finishing a long gulp, she glanced over to her left to see a familiar sight. A tired looking mother was in the process of trying to get her son safely out of the door. The little boy, no older than ten, seemed as if he had recently consumed almost a pound of sugar. That is to say, he was extremely hyper. He had a brand new cast on his arm, which Tatsuki assumed he had broken.

When the boy finally did what his mother told him and got in the car, he jumped back out and ran over to the door of the clinic. Just as he was about to open the door, the door opened from the inside. The boy stopped and grinned at the man standing before him, wearing a white doctor's coat. The boy literally bounced up and down as he said, "Thank you very much for fixing my arm!"

The doctor just chuckled and ruffled the boys hair with one hand, "Well, it's not quite fixed yet, Sanosuke. But as long as you're careful, I see nothing getting in the way of it getting fixed. Oh, I almost forgot, here is a present for being such a model patient." The doctor held out a lollypop.

Sanosuke grabbed the piece of candy faster than the eye could see, before grinning even and wider before waving goodbye to the doctor, "See you when I break my other arm, Doctor Kurosaki!"

The orange haired doctor gave a little urk of surprise and uneasiness, "Oi, gaki, the point isn't to break every single limb." The little kid just laughed at him.

Tatsuki finally recovered from shock enough to choke out a semi-squeak, "I-Ichigo!?!"

Ichigo looked over in her direction in surprise, "Oh, it's you, Tatsuki. Heh, I guess I should have been more careful, but I guess it doesn't really matter either way. How about you come in then, Tatsu-chan?" His usual smirk was back in place, which caused Tatsuki to snap out of her funk and walk towards him in order to beat the living crap out of him.

As she walked inside the spacious clinic, she sighed in contentment at the intense blast of cool air that assaulted her. Well, whatever he was up to here, at least he knew how to treat somebody. She couldn't seem to find him in the room she was in, so she assumed he was with a patient. She sat down in the waiting room and browsed through the selection of magazines on the small circular little coffee table next to her. Setting her drink down, she noticed that he had her favorite martial arts magazine.

She was almost halfway through it when Ichigo's voice could be heard. He then appeared in the waiting room, along with a young couple and girl about five or six years old. The little girl was being carried by her father, her arms around his neck. Her mother paused to stroke her daughter's black locks out of her face, before turning to Ichigo and asking, "How soon will she be better, Doctor?"

Ichigo scratched his chin in thought, "I can't say for sure, but I think she should be well enough to head back to school next Monday. You just need to make sure she gets plenty of rest." He smiled reassuringly at them, before directing his next comment towards the little girl, "You be a good girl, okay Tomoe? I'm sorry I couldn't give you a lollypop this time, but I'll be sure to give you double next time I see you, okay?" The little girl smiled slightly, before yawning, snuggling closer to her father, and falling asleep.

After the young family had left, Ichigo walked over to where Tatsuki was and sat down in a chair across from her. His usual smirk was back in all of its glory, causing her to become more relaxed in his presence. Just as she was going to ask him a question, however, he grabbed her and started dragging her towards an examination room. When she started to protest, he cut her off by saying, "Idiot, you're injured."

She looked down at herself, and noticed an unhealthy amount of blood had stained her shirt. "Oh," she said, "I guess you have a point in dragging me over here." Ichigo grumbled at her as they entered the room. He sat her down on the examination table, before walking back and closing the door.

He grabbed the equipment he thought necessary, before turning to her and saying, "Give up your shirt."

Tatsuki had the decency to blush, "Wh-what!?"

"I'm a doctor, Tatsuki, and as the doctor that is treating you, I need to see the injury. You can keep your undergarments on, but the shirt has got to go."

Tatsuki's blush deepened as she removed her shirt. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as Ichigo began to bandage the severe cut she had received. As he was doing so, he said, "I'm assuming you want an explanation for this?"

She just looked at him. He laughed lightly and continued, "I thought so. Well if you must know, I am a Vaizard…"

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Kiyone Kotetsu was in a foul mood. She had been unable to go out 'training' for almost an entire week, ever since her sister had nearly discovered the truth behind the lie. Although the situation had been rectified, Ichigo had been furious. He had gone on a tangent about how they should never relax their guard, especially at this critical juncture. She swore that her ears still rang sometimes when she remembered that particular scolding.

She shivered a little bit as she remembered the conversation she had with her Leader,

"_So," said Ichigo, "do you two mind telling me how our entire operation almost fell to ruin? Don't speak, I'll tell you. It's because you two grew overconfident and did nothing to shake off any tails that you might have picked up." _

_Shaolin tried to protest, "That's not fair, Ichigo."_

_Ichigo's ire seemed to roll off of him in waves, "Oh, really, Shaolin. And here I thought I was being far too _easy_ on you. There are too many layers of deception in place for us to even have a little slip up. If you don't like it, you can do what my Uncle was forced to do when he nearly blew the lid off our deception. Do you want to do that, do you?"_

_Kiyone and Shaolin both bowed their heads in shame, "No, Ichigo-sama."_

Trying to put that moment behind her, she rounded the bend in the road, only to spot someone she thought she would never see this early. He turned his head towards her, smirking as she said his name.

"Sosuke Aizen."

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TBC

AN: I am truly sorry about the long absence of an update, but Metroid Prime 3 Corruption is just that awesome of a game. Again, sorry. I will try to update more, but no promises. Hopefully, when I finally get back in the swing of things at school, I will be able to update at least every Saturday night. Again, no promises. By the end of this Final Countdown Arc, things will heat up between the Vaizard and the normal Shinigami, as well as the three Traitors and the Espada.

My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones six years ago.

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	18. Ch17:The Final Countdown P5, Lone Flower

Chapter Seventeen: The Final Countdown, Part Five: You Lone Flower

Kiyone took a fearful step back, one hand unconsciously being brought up to block any unprovoked attacks. Her body seemed to shiver with terror, almost as if Aizen's very presence was choking the very life out of her. The smirk that he had plastered to his face widened as he took a confident step forward.

This pattern happened again and again. She would take a step backwards, he would grow even more amused than he already was and take a step forwards. This continued again and again until Kiyone had nowhere else to go. Aizen's smirk then turned into a full out sneer when he pulled out his zanpakutoh. He took two quick steps forward, bringing his sword back. Kiyone shut her eyes and awaited the blow. She heard the sharp whistling noise of his zanpakutoh making its way towards her head and then…

She heard a sharp clang of steel against steel. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw that her captain had blocked the former fifth division Captain's blade with one of his own. Ukitake's reiatsu exuded hatred towards the traitorous illusion master, his jaw clenched and both zanpakutoh's already released into Shikai.

Aizen smirk did not waver, "So, Ukitake-san, it seems you are as overprotective of your subordinates as ever. Tell me, are you still upset about that whole hollow that I made killing your Vice Captain incident?" Aizen's expression became a mockery of pity, "I feel for you, I really do. So I decided while I was here I might as well kill Kiyone-san as we-"

He was interrupted by a terrifying roar that escaped Ukitake's throat. The Thirteenth Captain then launched a powerful attack at Sosuke, causing the traitor to leap backwards in order to dodge the assault. Once the smoke cleared, Kiyone could see that Aizen was shaking his head in disgust, "Really now, Jyuushirou, there's no need to be so rude. I was just trying to have a little fun, is all."

He then leaped at Ukitake, trying to slash him across the chest with his sword. Ukitake dodged to the side, his lower body had not moved at all except that his legs were spread wide, and his upper body was low to the ground at to the side. He then slashed his sword through Aizen, separating torso from body, before he thrust his sword behind him in order to block an attack by the real Aizen.

Aizen sneered at him and leapt back, before pointing his finger at Ukitake and saying, "Byakurai."

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Gin raced through Seiretei, occasionally pausing to stab and slash at the Shinigami that got in his way. He leapt over buildings and smashed through them, leading the many Soul Reapers on his tail on a merry chase. His smile kept growing and growing as he caused more and more mayhem throughout the walls.

Using shun-po, he sped across a wide open space before using a powerful flying side kick to break down the door to the main office building of the Third division. He sent out a Kidou spell, hoping to destroy even more Soul Reaper property. The spell was blocked by a straight hooked shaped sword, and his former Vice-Captain launched himself at his former commander.

Gin smiled at Kira, before using his superior strength to throw the blonde off his blade. He then flash stepped behind Izuru and pierced him with his Shinsou. The frail Vice-Captain fell to the ground, his sword clattering to the ground. Gin was about to leave his victim to his demise, when he saw that the sky had turned red. Snapping his neck to the sky, he saw a shadowy figure pointing a cero at him.

Reacting on instinct, Gin reached towards his forehead and pulled out his hollow mask. He put most of his power into his right arm, a white bone shield forming almost instantaneously as he did so. The frowning hollow mask he wore flashed as the cero made contact with his shield. He almost fell over due to the intense impact, but managed to barely stand on his feet.

He heard laughter from behind him and turned around quickly in order to discover the identity of his attacker. He cursed mentally when he saw who it was. It was the Quartus (Fourth) Vaizard Elder, Antonio Bortecelli. The semi-fat man smirked at the former third division captain, "It's been a while since I saw you last, Gin-chan. How have you been? Well no matter, it won't make a difference either way, for I will kill you now for betraying your Vaizard brethren." He took the lit cigar in his mouth and threw it into the air, "Burn out his eyes, Allettante Vampa." (Tempting Flame)

The cigar caught on fire, before it suddenly grew and landed in the Don's hands. He held in his hands his zanpakutoh. It was shaped into an elegant fencing blade, red rubies adorning the hilt. With a flourish, Antonio flicked his blade at the traitor, causing crimson crows of flame to come flying out in pursuit of their enemy.

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Kaname Tousen also was told to cause mayhem within Seiretei. He did his job well, although he took no joy from it like Gin did. As he leapt over yet another structure, he was knocked out of the sky by a flying kick to his abdomen.

Landing with a great crash, he skidded almost forty feet before he used one elbow to flip himself upright. He drew his zanpakutoh, using his perception to try and discover the identity of his attacker.

He could not see her, but he knew who she was. Before him stood Soi Fon, Second Division Captain. Tousen frowned, he did not recall her having such long hair. Nor did he recall her wearing such a heavy overcoat.

His thoughts were interrupted when she said, "Well if you won't attack me, Kaname, I guess I'll just have to…" she clapped her hands, then her right hand seemed to rip through the very air itself as it pulled out her mask. She put it on her face, her voice now distorted by another speaking at the same time, "_**Kill you!!**_"

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Aizen panted heavily atop the Sokyouku hill, using his reserves in order to fashion bandages out of his clothing. Who would have thought that soul society would have made something like that? He certainly hadn't, and so was caught off guard when the bomb had attached itself to his chest. The resulting explosion had contained as much power as the Sokyouku, although it only unleashed that area around him. The area had only a diameter of five feet, but the destruction within had been so awesome Sosuke had been forced to bring out his final card…

He heard someone sigh near him and turned his gaze to the person to his left. Kiyone stood there, her hands clasped behind her back. He growled at her, "What are you sighing for?"

She smiled at him, "I'm sighing because I'm trying to figure out how the great Sosuke could have fallen so low as to have been hit by that obvious trap."

His eyebrow ticked in annoyance, "Shut it, Nonus Patricius. (Ninth Noble) I'm not in the mood for your idiocies today."

Kiyone was about to retort when a presence flashed in behind her. She turned her head and smirked, "Ah, Ichigo-sama, took you long enough. I've been waiting forever. So what do we do now."

Ichigo walked over to Sosuke, who was on one knee, unable to get up. Ichigo offered a hand to the former Fifth division captain. Sosuke grasped it and was assisted in standing up.

Once they were both on two feet, Ichigo gazed at Sosuke. He then gave a deep laugh, before giving the man a bear hug, "It's good to see you again, Uncle Sosuke!"

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TBC- - - - - - -


	19. Ch18: Angels Deserve to Die

Chapter Eighteen: When Angels Deserve to Die

"It's good to see you again, Uncle Sosuke!" exclaimed Ichigo to the former fifth division captain. Taking a step back while clasping his uncle's shoulder, Ichigo raised his other hand it began to glow with the presence of healing Kidou. Wherever the hand passed, the wounds and tears in clothing were instantaneously repaired.

After a couple of minutes had passed, the healing had been completely finished. Popping his neck a couple of times, Sosuke smiled and looked at his two compatriots, Ichigo and Kiyone. He turned to Ichigo and asked, "So, O glorious leader, what's today's hare-brained scheme?"

Ichigo growled and kicked him in the shins, earning him a satisfying yelp of surprise. "It's not a scheme, idiot." He chuckled darkly, "It will be quite entertaining, if I do say so myself." He glanced at Kiyone, "And I do, by the way. Okay then, here's the plan-"

He was interrupted suddenly by a furious roar that had escaped Ukitake's throat. Aizen spun around quickly and blocked Ukitake's sword stroke with his own. Sneering at the Thirteenth Captain, he sent a mental query to Ichigo, asking what he should do.

'_Just act out your evil Aizen role, uncle. But be prepared for what I will do.'_

Sosuke almost forgot to keep up his façade as he sent back a reply.

'_You mean!'_

'_Yes, uncle,' _replied Ichigo, _'now is the time for my presence to be revealed. Now is the time for the Shinigami that head shunned us millennia ago to finally pay for their crimes._ Now _is the time for the Darkest.' _ He turned his attention back to Kiyone, _'And I want you to act all frightened and scared. You're a lost little lamb, an insignificant third seat, who just got abducted by someone who could take on half of Soul society by himself and have a one hundred percent chance of winning. And on top of that, the man that you love is fighting to get you back.'_

It was just a small thing, barely noticeable, but Aizen could see that Kiyone flinched a little bit. His lip twitched. _Ah_, he thought, _so __that__ was why Ukitake-san was so furious. I had just been ad-libbing back there, and it turns out truer than I had ever imagined._

He turned his attention to Ukitake and said in his compassionate voice, "It is kind of sad, really it is. You and Kiyone-san had finally fallen for each other, and here I am…" He paused dramatically after shun-poing behind the Thirteenth captain. His eyes were closed, and his free hand was pressed to one eye, as if to prevent tears from escaping. He opened his eyes and grinned, "And here I am, about to skewer her right before your eyes."

Almost too late, Ukitake saw that the Aizen in front of him was a fake. He turned and saw that the real Aizen was behind Kiyone, about to cleave her in two. He took a step towards them.

Just when he was about to shun-po over to them, the man in the black cloak, moving faster than Yoroichi, came up behind him. Ichigo slashed Ukitake at the back, before using the momentum to spin and whack the captain with the hilt of the blade, effectively knocking him out.

"Jyuushirou!" screamed Kiyone. She rushed over to him and collapsed to the ground beside him. Reaching over, she took his head and cradled his head on her lap. She cried silently as she just sat there, stroking his head, grasping his hair.

Sosuke turned his head and looked at Ichigo. His nephew was wiping off his blade, making sure no blood residue remained. He then sheathed his blade with an almost impossibly fast flourish.

"Sosuke Aizen, former captain of the Fifth Division, for betraying Soul Society, you must be captured. For betraying me, you must die."

Sosuke spun around quickly in surprise, and had to suppress a gulp. For standing before him was none other than his wife, Momo Aizen.

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Momo stood on the Sokyouku hill, zanpakutoh drawn and ready, and a steely expression on her face. She looked at her surroundings. Kiyone was kneeled down next to a wounded Captain Ukitake. Her husband, her Sosuke, was standing before her now, a bloody sword in his hands, a surprised expression on his face.

Her voice sounded like a death sentence as she spoke to him, "So, Sosuke, it seems that you are still intent on ruining other peoples' happiness once again."

He in turn barely moved his blade, but she was not fooled. "Nice try, Sosuke-chan, but you know as well as I do that when my blade is drawn, your illusions have no effect on me." She flicked her sword wielding wrist, causing it to transform. "Now then, shall we dance?"

"I see," said the man in the black cloak, "so that is why you managed to survive. Your Tobiume would not allow you to succumb to an illusion, so therefore you were able to start a healing Kidou before the blade even slid out of your body. How quaint."

The man in black held up his hand. In it, a glowing violet-black sphere was starting to form. He looked at her once it stopped expanding, "Do you know what this is, my dear? This is a Kidou I have created that forces you to relive your entire life over again in the space of only a couple of seconds." He looked at the sphere, and began to almost purr in pleasure, "I have found it quite an, _educational_ experience. You can not do anything different; you merely relive each and every memory. It's like watching an earth movie, but you feel everything that happens to you." His eyes glowed red, "Both good _and _bad."

He flash stepped behind her and shoved it into her back.

As the world around her became black, she heard him say, "Buenas Noches, Aunt Momo."

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TBC

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AN: Two things to start off with, one: I am sorry for the delay. Marching Band has entered the crunch time stage, and my quarter classes have their finals tomorrow. The week after next week it's over though, so I will do my best to update _way _more frequently. Two: Sorry it's kinda short, but with band and how the chapter flowed I just couldn't make it any bigger. Well, anyway, smell you on the other side.


	20. Ch19: A Prayer to Compliment Your Sorrow

Chapter Nineteen: A Prayer to Compliment Your Sorrow

Warm, comforting, soothing, darkness. These were the sensations she felt. Where was she? She wanted to open her eyes, but she could not see anything. She tried to move around, but since she was just free floating, she could only curl up and drift in the comforting liquid in which she was surrounded.

_Harquozi shana molkli fizit. Tu nu shan groducha. Si ku. Si ku. Si ku._

A weird man. That is who is responsible for this situation. A weird man had removed her from her comfortable surroundings and was doing strange things to her. He held her up in one arm while he used the other to steal away her food tube. She let him no what she thought of that. She screamed her little lungs out, scrunching her eyes in order to force the stingy liquid from her eyes. She hoped it hurt him.

All of a sudden she was cleaned up and wrapped up in a warm cloth thingy. She was then placed into the arms of somebody else. This person was different than the weird man. This person had longer hair for one. She gave a little silent laugh as it tickled her face. She opened her eyes to see who it was, and as she did so, the person holding her softly stroked her cheek, wiping away tears. She finally managed to open her eyes, and before her was a very pretty lady. She gave her a little baby's smile, and grew even happier when this caused the pretty lady to hug her. All in all, she was sort of glad the weird man had taken her out of Warm Place.

_Harquozi shana molkli fizit. Tu nu shan groducha. Si ku. Si ku. Si ku._

Momo was slightly confused. She had turned three a couple of weeks ago, and so now she was that much more of a big girl now. But even so, she could not seem to find her favorite ball. Her mama had given it to her sometime last year, and Momo and it had been nearly inseparable since. She ran around her house to her back yard, her tiny legs making it quite a long trip.

It took her almost forever to find it, as she had to maneuver past rows upon rows of bushes and shrubs and trees. She smiled and giggled when she finally discovered it in a small clearing. She ran over to it and hugged it tightly to her. She froze suddenly when she heard a deafening crunch from behind her. She turned her head slowly behind her, her ball clutched tightly to her body.

_Su ka, shi kudaiyo. _

A huge skeletal creature with a whole in its chest stood behind her. Its yellow eyes glowed from beneath the mask it wore on its face, its deadly gaze boring in to her. Its tail lazily swished back and forth behind it, crushing trees and pulverizing rocks that were in its way. Its long mane of orange hair hung over one shoulder, and Momo could tell that it had flexed its hand so that it could unsheathe its claws.

_Su ka, shi kudaiyo. Su ka._

The voice that emanated from the hollow-chested creature was colder than the darkest night. "Hello there, shoujo," it said. "You look delectable. I could just eat you up."

Her ball forgotten, Momo turned and ran away deeper into the forest. Her little legs might not carry her very fast, but she could squeeze through small openings in the brush and the flat boulders that dotted her home country. The monster gave a delayed reaction upon her initial escape, so it had allowed her a generous head start.

_Su ka! Shi kudaiyo, Su ka!_

After what seemed like an eternity of fear and helplessness, Momo managed to find a cubbyhole of sorts inside of a tree, covered by some underbrush. This allowed her to see outside her hiding spot without being spotted.

_Su ka! Shi kudaiyo, Su ka!_

After only a half minute or so, the scary monster had come upon the clump of trees in which she was hiding. The mask had opened up fractionally, allowing a long, slimy, tongue to slither out in order to lick its teeth. It then turned its head toward a random direction. Momo wondered what it was doing for a second, before she heard what it must have heard. Someone was coming through the underbrush, someone from her village it turned out. Several someones. She put her hands to her mouth to stifle her scream. It was a search party. Her mother must have been hysterical when she couldn't find Momo, and so had asked the strong in their village to go look for her.

_Su ka…………_

The men came into the clearing, shouting her name, telling her that her mother was worried sick about her, that she should go ahead and go home now. She was dreadfully confused. Could they not see the scary monster thing? Her breathing caught when one of the younger men nearly got hit by the white monster's tail.

_Su Ka. Shi…Kudaiyo…_

_Su…ka…_

The air seemed to turn frigid when the monster started talking again, "You see this, don't you shoujo. You are probably wondering why they can't see me. They are normal humans, so they have no spiritual pressure to speak of. I am an evil ghost, shoujo. I can only be seen by the dead and those with a healthy dose of spirit power." It licked its lips again, "Just like you, shoujo." It turned to the rescue party, "Now what should I do about these annoying little pests? Ooh! I know just the thing!" The creature spread its legs further apart, arms bent and ready to shred, tail forced still and ready for action. It screamed out loud for all to hear, "I'm going to kill them and feast on their fear, shoujo!!!"

_Su Ka. Su Ka. Su Ka. Su Ka. __**Su Ka. Su Ka. Su Ka. Su Ka. SU KA! SU KA! SU KA! SU KA!**_

Momo was scrunched up in a ball, hands covering her ears. Her eyes were clamped shut, tears flowing from them. She had to bite her lip in order to stop herself from crying out. Why did this have to happen? Why did the people she cared about have to die? Why? Why was she so important?

Why?

Why her of all people?

Why……….

Why?

_Tobi Jazay Kanaygana?_

-------------------------- --------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------

Millennia ago, human and Shinigami were not entirely separate. The Spirit King and the Forest Queen lived together, spending half of their time in soul society, the other half in Eden Shevka. During those times, it was rare for any human to not have spiritual pressure, and even rarer for wholes to become hollows. In fact, hollow occurrences had been so rare that most, including the King and Queen, did not even know that they exist.

Now the King and Queen had six children. Their first born daughter, Kulaira, was said to have been the most beautiful girl in existence. The second born, a son named Seret, was a calm child who loved his family more than anything. A set of nearly identical twins came next; the only difference between them was that Kuro had black hair and eyes, while Shiro had white hair and yellow eyes. Their favorite hobby usually was to annoy the crap out of their older siblings. The fifth child, a second girl named Senna, was an expert in all things natureish, as she had an innate talent for communing with the forest that surrounded Eden Shevka. The last child, Huendo, was a cool personality. She was said to have been the very first 'Ice Princess'.

-an excerpt from the History of the forging of Soul Society, Vol.1.

The original language of human and Shinigami has long since been lost, but there are a few words and phrases that have survived to this day. Here are just a few.

_Harquozi shana molkli fizit.These are the first times._

_Tu nu shan groducha.May they be filled with gladness._

_Si Ku. Si Ku. Si Ku. And hope, and joy, and love._

_Su kaRun now._

_Shi kudaiyoKudai's heir. (can also mean princess)_

_Tobi Jazay KanayganaWhy did this have to have happened?_

----------------------- --------------------------- ----------------------- --------------- -----------

TBC

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AN: Well here it is! Hopefully now I will be able to update a few more times per week than I have before. If you have any unanswered questions this chapter, please be patient. It will take a few chapters for this to be cleared up. I will do everything in my power to hurry up with the updates, but things have been known to happen.

Buenas Noches!


	21. Ch20: Comatose

Chapter Twenty: I Hate This, This Feeling of Becoming Comatose.

The wind howled, kicking up large clouds of dust that swept throughout this particular district of Rukongai. This district was slightly better off than the others, so the houses here rattled with less frequency than those in the poorer districts.

Momo lay in a small yet quite comfortable bed, her eyes scrunched tight as she unconsciously tried to keep herself from waking. Unfortunately for her, sleep managed to slip from her grasp, and as she looked around the room with tired little eyes, she noticed that several kind looking old people were staring at her.

Gripping her sheets tightly in her hands, she looked up at the old people and asked where she was. Where was her momma? Why is there no big red booboo in the middle of her chest anymore? Who were the old people and why were they here? Could she have some food? She's hungry.

The old people smiled kindly at her. They told her that she was in the afterworld, and that she had died and had been sent up into a kind of heaven called Soul Society. They said that they did not know where her momma was, and that any injury she had received that had been a cause of her death. They told her that they were called the Grandparents, a small group of 'old people', as she had called them, who took care of those children who were really little when they died.

They laughed a little bit more as one of the more bulky old men came over to the bed and gently lifted her out of it. They were going to get some food now, if that is alright with her, they said. And so they made their way down the hallway and into the kitchen, where she was set down on a very tall stool and given a small bowl of porridge.

Smiling very slightly, she tentatively reached out with her spoon and dipped some of the sludge onto it. She brought it to her lips, steeled herself, and quickly removed the porridge from the spoon. She almost gasped aloud when she tasted it. It wasn't porridge at all; it was some sort of magical sugary oatmeal.

Smiling even brighter still, she began to devour the oatmeal. In the end, she had been hungry enough to eat almost eight bowls of the stuff. Getting down off her stool, little Momo ran to the old people and gave them all one hug each. After saying thank you a ka-trillion times, she went over to the couch, sat down, and less than second later was passes out and sleeping the day away.

----------------------------------------- ------------------------------ ----------------------------

The next few years of her life were very, _interesting,_ to say the least.

After being with the old people for almost an entire year, she found a little baby boy wrapped up in a ragged blanket. She grew found of him and named him Toshiro because of his white hair. When she brought him to the old people, she said,

"Take care of Shiro-chan for a little bit while I take a nap."

For the next several years, little Momo had a wonderful time living with the old people, and playing with Toshiro. They both would often spend the entire day playing catch, tag, or some other exciting game, some of which were invented by the mischievous youngsters.

One day however, while the two now more grown up children were playing, they accidentally splashed a patrolling Shinigami with a bucketful of water. The children immediately hid behind the tree, fearing the Shinigami would hurt them with his sword because he had been hit by their bucket. To their surprise, the Shinigami just laughed and used his reiatsu to dry himself off in an instant. Momo was fascinated by this, and asked the Shinigami if he could teach her how to do that thing with his inner…whatever.

The Shinigami had snickered before replying that he had used his reiatsu, or spirit energy, not his inner…whatever. And he also told her that if she wanted to learn how to do cool stuff like he just did, all she had to do was enroll in the Shinigami Academy.

He left, and so several months later, Momo Hinamori departed he quiet life and started a whole new one. And although the future here seemed uncertain, she was sure her life would be the better because of it.

----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -------

"Momo Hinamori, due to your surprising talent and exemplary regard for duty, I am humble yet proud to bestow upon you your shihakusho and zanpakutoh, as well as the rank of Eighteenth Seat in the Fifth Division. Congratulations. A member of your division will show you to your division. Good day, Hinamori-san."

Momo clutched the garments tightly to her chest, trying and failing to stop the happy tears running down her cheeks. She had finally made it into the 13 Court Guard Companies; she had finally become an official Shinigami! She was so excited her body could barely take it.

As the man from the Fifth started leading her towards their division, Momo used her clothing to hide her blush. Not only had she made it as a Shinigami, but she was in Aizen-Taichou's Division as well.

----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------

"Hinamori-san, how are you holding up today?"

Momo gave a little squeak of surprise and turned around to face her Captain. "Aizen-Taichou! I didn't realize you were there. Please except my apology for getting in your way."

Aizen waved a hand in order calm her fears, "There is no need, Hinamori-san, no need at all. I just wanted to ask you if you will accompany me to a special banquet being held between several of the divisions of the Gotei 13. Would you be interested?"

Momo smiled at her Captain so much, she looked as if she were beaming. "I would love to, Aizen-Taichou."

----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Two years after their first formal dinner together, Momo Hinamori and Sosuke Aizen were married. A kindly old man that Sosuke knew in Rukongai secretly married the two. Momo couldn't have been happier. Now the man that she loved was hers, and she knew the next several hundred years were going to be simply amazing.

_The Momo who was reliving these events frowned a little bit. This wasn't right. This wasn't how she had remembered the events of her marriage at all. _

"Momo Hinamori, do you take Sosuke Kurosaki to be your lawfully wedded husband…"

_This wasn't right at all! Her Sosuke's name was Aizen! It wasn't Kurosaki!_

"I now declare you both Mr. and Mrs. Sosuke Kurosaki." The old man then put an arm around Sosuke's shoulders, "Now then, my son and daughter in law, go out and make me some grandchildren!"

Sosuke then punched the old man squarely in the jaw, "Shut up father!" He sighed and turned to his wife and smiled, "I'm sorry about Fuji, Momo."

She just giggled in response and said, "Don't worry about it Sosuke." She gave him a look, "You know as well as I do that I was going to ravish you tonight anyways."

Sosuke sweatdropped and chuckled nervously, "Momo, sometimes you scare me."

---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------

_Present­­­­_

Momo clutched her shihakusho and gasped heavily, trying to regain her balance. She barely was paying attention as Sosuke and the hooded man argued.

Sosuke turned towards the man in black and said, "Ichigo, how dare you!"

The one called Ichigo replied nonchalantly, "How dare I what?"

Sosuke's face turned terrifying as he scowled at his nephew, "How dare you shove that blasted Falcis Victus (Sickle Nourishment) into my wife!"

The other man replied in a voice as cold as death, "It will help bring things in perspective for her. We will not argue the point any more, collect your wife and put on your façade; it seems our little excursion in Seiretei has caused us to have some unwelcome guests in this little play of ours. Now then, it's time to call the others home."

He closed his eyes and sent a telepathic message to two of his nobles, "_Quintus, Quartus, are you two finished?"_

He received an immediate reply, _"Hai, Leader-sama, it is done."_

"_Good," he replied, "you have five seconds to make it back here to the top of the Sokyouku hill. Hurry."_

Counting to five, he opened his eyes to see the disguised form of Antonio Bortecelli appeared in front of him. His uncle had knocked his wife unconscious and was carrying her over one shoulder. Ichigo then picked up Kiyone by the waist and carried her to one side near his own.

Just then, the rest of the loyal captains and vice captains shun-po'd on top of the Sokyouku hill. Shunsui immediately headed towards his friend, trying to make sure that he was all right. He glared at Aizen and said, "What did you do to him, you bastard?"

Sosuke smiled kindly and replied, "Whatever do you mean, Kyoraku-kun? It wasn't _I_ who did that to poor, poor, Jyuushirou-kun."

"Don't lie to me, you son of a-"

He was interrupted by Ichigo, "He's not lying, Kyoraku-san. It was in fact _me_."

Yamamoto harrumphed, "And who are _you_ supposed to be?"

A thunder clap resounded throughout Soul Society, and the sky was filled with ominous storm clouds within 45 seconds. The stranger laughed darkly, and replied in an insidious bass, "I am the true ruler of night. I am the one who will ascend to the throne of the Spirit King. For I am The Darkest, the _true_ heir to the throne of Death." He then snapped his fingers, "Oh, I almost forgot something."

He disappeared and reappeared before anyone could stop him. When he reappeared, he was holding the squirming body of the Second Division Captain. He then threw Kiyone at Antonio, who knocked her unconscious and threw her over his shoulder.

Ichigo then turned his attention to the assembled Shinigami, "I wouldn't want to forget this little beauty of a prize, now would I?" He licked her throat provocatively, the upper portion of a mask hiding his face from view. "Well, well, well, you're quite tasty, my dear little Taichou."

Isane noticed her sister and screamed, "Kiyone!"

Ichigo laughed again, "That's quite sad, you only _now_ just noticed her? Oh well, nothing for it I suppose."

The Sokyouku hill suddenly shuddered with a tremendous force, making the various Non-Captain class Shinigami brace themselves. The man in the black hood and facemask snapped his finger again, and a pitch black portal appeared. It was a pitch black mirror roughly two meters tall and three meters wide. It had an intricate golden border, and four flat yet thin obsidian blocks of stone levitated in the air, serving as steps leading into the mirror.

Antonio traced several kanji in midair, activating a temporary force field that blocked the Shinigami from following them.

All of sudden, Yoroichi flashed in between the Vaizard and the Mirror. "Soi!" she screamed. She then launched herself at the hooded Vaizard, using her fastest form of shun-po.

Before she even arrived at her destination, the man had used an even faster form of shun-po to intercept her in mid-air. He first kneed her in the stomach with his left leg, then spun and used his right to kick her head which made her bounce into the rocky ground. When she had bounced back up, he used a side kick to eject her from the inner part of the barrier.

"Yoroichi-sama!" screamed Soi.

Ichigo the shun-po'd in front of her and tapped her forehead. She was momentarily startled, and he used the opportunity to pick her up semi-bridal style, but with her legs held underneath his arm.

He nodded at his two compatriots and said to the assembled Shinigami, "Buenas Noches, Shinigami. Have a pleasant evening."

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TBC

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AN: Sorry for the delay. This chapter just for some reason would not agree with me, so I had to ultimately clip it short. Sorry.

Feedback is welcomed.


	22. Ch21: The Way I Are

Chapter Twenty One: The Way I Are.

"You bastard." said a distraught Soi to Ichigo as soon as they had arrived at the Vaizard Headquarters.

Ichigo did not reply immediately. He first removed his cloak and mask, as well as his sword and second division gear. Now clad in only the lower half of a shihakusho, and a sleeveless white t-shirt, he let her have his full attention. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he asked her, "And why, might I ask, am I a bastard?"

She could not me his gaze as tears began to pool in her eyes, threatening to fall down her porcelain face. After a few seconds, she managed to slightly regain her composure and reiterate, "You're a bastard. Did you really have to do so much harm to the Shinigami."

Ichigo shifted his weight slightly, "May I ask why you would care what I did to a few pathetic Shinigami?"

The tears started to fall freely down her face, "I care because they are my friends, Ichigo! Why did you have to cause so much harm to my friends?!!"

Ichigo's posture straightened as his face grew flush with anger. "Have you forgotten already, Shaolin?" He pointed a finger accusingly at her, "Have you already forgotten the things that those pathetic Shinigami have done to our people? Do I need to remind you that these so called friends of yours would turn on you in a heartbeat if they found out what you are?"

His face grew calm again as he crossed his arms once again. His expression grew sad as he continued, "I don't think you do, Shaolin. You know as well as I do that they would despise you the minute they found out that you were a Vaizard. Your closest friends would be obligated to kill you. The people you thought you could trust more than even your own family would suddenly take great pleasure in slowly torturing you. No Shinigami would be kindhearted towards us. Even the peace loving Fourth Division has been known to do sick and twisted things to our kind.

"So if you're asking why I did such things to the Shinigami, I am not doing it because I want to. I'm doing it so that they know that what they have done to our kind is immoral and wrong."

Soi took a shuddering breath, "I-I, g-guess I can s-sort of understand th-that, but…" She fell to her knees, her eyes shut, trying to stop the steady flow of tears pouring down her face, "Why did you use that Falcis Victus on Momo?"

Ichigo sighed and moved towards Shaolin. He knelt down in front of her, before taking her into his embrace. "Is that what this is about, beloved?" He sighed and tightened his embrace on her, "Did you know that at one point in Aunt Momo's life, she had discovered practically everything about our race?"

Soi gasped, "She what?"

Ichigo gave her a brief squeeze, "She discovered almost all of our race's secrets. Logically, it wouldn't do for a normal Shinigami to know of us, so a joint decision was made by both the current Dark One and the Nobles. It was decided that a complicated Kidou would be used to fool Aunt Momo into forgetting almost everything she had learned. A side affect of the spell caused her to think her husband's name was Aizen, the fake name he went by in the Court of Pure Souls."

He gently wiped the tears off of Shaolin's face, "Do you see, Shaolin? The former Nobles ratified the decision, but the reason Aunt Momo did not have all her memory was because of a decision made by my Okaasan when she was the leader of the Vaizard, the Dark One."

--------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------

Slowly but surely, the woman known as Momo Kurosaki awoke. She blinked her eyes to adjust to the lamp to the side of her bed. She tried to sit up, but found she couldn't, but kept on trying. On her third attempt, she managed to sit up slightly, but was falling back down almost immediately. However, a strong hand supported her upright for a few moments, before letting her rest on pillows that would allow for her to sit upright. She turned her head to look at the man that had helped her.

His face had both a guilty and sorrowful expression. He rested his head in his hands and said, "Please, Momo, forgive me."

She smiled sadly at the man, "And why would you need forgiveness, Sosuke."

"Because," he replied, "I should have never have hurt you like that. Even if my sister had ordered me to change your memory, I should never have done so.

"Even if I knew that it was foolish to believe that my children would be all right without a father, that they could take care of themselves, I should never have abandoned them in the real world like I did. I knew as well as anyone the types of emotional scarring this would cause them, yet I still abandoned Mizuho and Keigo when I became a Vaizard Noble, a rank equivalent to Captain in Vaizard society.

"And furthermore," he barely managed to choke out, "I should have never tried to kill you on my own nephew's orders. I'm so sorry, Momo."

He felt a pair of arms embrace him, and an angelic voice whisper, "And why would need forgiveness? I have already given it, my Sosuke."

Sosuke's eyes widened and his head shot up, "Momo?"

She smiled slightly at him, "It was my fault, my Sosuke. I should never have panicked like that. I know now that I scared you near to death when that happened. But you must know it wasn't because _you_ are a Vaizard that I was frightened, I was frightened because I did not know if I could handle it, seeing my own children deal with an inner hollow."

He smiled at her, his tears trickling down his cheeks, "I'm relieved, my heart."

She giggled at the nickname, "You're always such a flirt, my Sosuke!" She hugged him tight, "Be sure to thank your nephew for me when you next see him."

His expression grew serious as he asked, "And why do you want to thank him?"

She touched his face with her left hand, "Because, my Sosuke, you trying to kill me, along with the Falcis Victus, helped bring me back around to you." She giggled at his bewildered expression, "Evidently he had placed a Kidou spell on me that would ensure I would not die, and would also make me question why the Vaizard have been persecuted for so long as I lay in a coma in the Fourth Division. The Falcis Victus then let me see an unedited version of my life, allowing me to have an unbiased view on the Vaizard people. That is why I find it so easy to accept, although I do agree that he might have made everything a little bit too overdramatic for my tastes."

They both hugged each other tight. For the next several minutes, they sat in each other's embrace in silence, before Momo spoke back up, "Uh Oh."

"Uh oh what?" asked Sosuke.

She gave him a look that spoke volumes concerning her worry over the matter,

"How are we going to explain this to Mizuho-chan?"

------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------

"Are you all right now, Shaolin?"

She nodded her head slightly.

He then loosened his grip on her. He gently lifted her head up so that their faces now faced each other. "Are you sure?"

"Hai," she said. "I'm sorry I overreacted like that, Ichigo."

He kissed the top of her forehead, "I'm sorry I over dramatized the meeting with the Shinigami. I knew I didn't need to be flashy like that, but…I just couldn't help myself."

She giggled at this and buried her face in his neck, "That's one of the things that makes me love you, Ichigo."

"I love you too, Shaolin Fon."

She then lifted her head to meet his gaze, her face relaxed and gentle. Ichigo leaned down slightly, before capturing her lips with his own. Shaolin's arms wrapped around his neck, and his wrapped around the small of her back as she moaned and pressed herself tighter in his embrace.

------------------------------ ------------------------------

The two Vaizard men that were playing cards in the lobby outside of Ichigo's Doctor's office exchanged knowing looks when they heard an audible click and sensed that Ichigo had used Kidou to lock and bolt the door and close the blinds. As the younger of the two men began to shuffle the deck of cards, his voice grumbled,

"Lucky bastard."


	23. Ch22: Trapped Under Ice

Chapter Twenty Two: Trapped Under Ice

Mizuho tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the coffee maker to spit out her morning cup of Joe. The sun glared through her window, not particularly improving her already grumpy mood. She scowled as she thought about what had happened recently in the Soul Society.

Ikkaku had told her last night about what had transpired. Apparently, Sosuke Aizen, along with several Vaizards, had stormed the Soul Society and had abducted three Shinigami. They had learned from this that Aizen was not the man behind the true plot against the Soul Society's King. A man calling himself the true heir was said to be the real mastermind behind everything.

What had confused them, Ikkaku had told her, was that they had brought both Tousen and Ichimaru to Soul Society, but only to kill them. This had frightened many of the lower ranked Shinigami, as they wondered how they could have afforded to simply kill two captain-class Shinigami like they did.

Mizuho bit her lip. According to Ikkaku, Momo Hinamori had been abducted by Aizen. This meant that her own father had abducted her mother. She wondered what he wanted with her...

She jumped slightly as she heard a knock at her front door. She made her way into her living room, "Who is it?" she asked.

A gruff voice answered back, "It's your extended family, dear cousin."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ryuuken Ishida was many things, but a hyper man was not one of them. Thus, he found himself only mildly interested as he stared at the woman standing in front of him.

He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a long pull of smoke, and exhaled before speaking to the woman who the Shinigami thought had been abducted. "And to what do I owe the pleasure, Shaolin Fon?"

Shaolin smirked at the Quincy, "I see you haven't changed at all, Ryuuken, even after all these years."

Ryuuken inhaled more nicotine, "And why," he said as he exhaled a puff of smoke, "would you have expected me of all people to change?"

Shaolin shrugged. She then turned back to the food stall owner and thanked him as he handed her the food that she had ordered. Her face lit up with happiness as she bit into the foot-long, chocolate covered, donut with sprinkles on top. She then looked at Ryuuken.

He shrugged his shoulders and started walking again, Shaolin following him. He glanced at her and said, "Those things will kill you, you know. I'm a Doctor, so you know it's true."

She gave him a dirty glare, "I don't want to hear that from you, mister cancer-stick."

Ryuuken shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care."

She scowled at him, "I'll never see what my elder sister saw in you."

Ryuuken smirked as he flicked the shriveled up cigarette to the pavement below, before rubbing out the remaining embers with the heel of his shoe. He glanced at Shaolin before replying, "Maybe it was my dashing good looks and wonderful personality?"

Shaolin rolled her eyes, "Somehow I doubt that."

They were both quiet for several seconds before Ryuuken spoke up again, "So why did you come here? I doubt it was just to chit chat?" Ryuuken pulled out a set of car keys and unlocked his car. He stopped and stared at the Vaizard woman. "What do you want, Shaolin?"

Shaolin bit her lip and fidgeted slightly, "I think...I may be pregnant."

Ryuuken stared at her, "And you want me to ascertain if you really are or not?" She nodded, and he sighed. "All right then, get in."

He opened the passenger car door for her, and closed it as soon as she had seated herself inside. He got in the car as well, turning the keys and starting the engine. Classical music was playing over the radio as he made his way through the busy streets towards the hospital.

Shaolin glanced at him, "How's my nephew been?" she asked.

"He's stubborn," was the short reply.

Shaolin snorted in amusement, "Like you're one to talk."

Ryuuken spared her a quick glare before diverting his attention back to the road ahead, "To quote you, 'I don't want to hear that from you'."

Shaolin laughed as she stared out at the buildings that moved past the window. "How's my sister been lately?"

Ryuuken smiled softly, "She's still ticked off about that car running over her while she was in her gigai." Ryuuken's arms moved slightly as he made a left turn, "She's even told me in no uncertain terms that she's going to see her son again, whether I like the idea or not."

Shaolin sighed with exasperation, "Even though she knows she's not supposed to, she still does it anyway." She glanced at her brother-in-law, "You two are a match made in heaven, you realize this right?"

Ryuuken smirked as he pulled into his parking space, "You're just jealous, dearest sister-in-law."

As they made their way into his office, they both heard a woman's voice say, "Ryuuken, are you back from your errands?"

Ryuuken's normally cold expression grew soft as he replied, "Yes dear. And I ran into somebody who you haven't seen in a while."

A tall, blue-haired woman peeked out around the corner. Her face lit up with a smile as she saw the two. She walked forward and enveloped the smaller woman in a hug, "Shaolin!" she said as she hugged her sister close, "It's been too long!"

Shaolin smiled at her sister, "Indeed it has, Soi."

Soi rolled her eyes, "Do you have to remind me of that name every time we see each other? I thought we both agreed that I would go by Megumi from now on."

Shaolin smirked mischievously, "Sorry about that, Megumi-nee. I couldn't help myself. It's just too much fun calling you by great great aunt Soi's name."

Megumi, formerly Soi, now Mrs. Ishida, rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What brings you here today, Shaolin?"

-- -- -- -- -- --

Mizuho stared at the door in confusion, "What are you talking about? I don't have any cousins."

The man on the other side of the door tsked, "I see, I guess you really don't know then."

Suddenly, the man simply walked through the door as if it didn't exist. It was then revealed that he was in fact Keigo's classmate, Ichigo Kurosaki. He smirked at her as he continued, "My mother and your father were siblings, and that's how we're cousins."

She took a step back, "How do you know who my father is?"

"I think that's fairly obvious, dearest daughter," said a voice from behind her.

Mizuho quickly turned around and came face to face with her father, Sosuke, holding her mother, Momo, by the hand. They both smiled sweetly at her as Sosuke continued, "He's my boss, Mizuho-chan."

-- -- -- --

TBC

AN: I apologize, it really has been far too long since I had last updated this fic. I hope ya'll don't mind.(Too much)


	24. Ch23: Blue Water Road P1, Find the Clock

Chapter Twenty Three: Big Blue Watery Road, Part 1, Find the Clock

"O-okaa-san?! Otou-san?! How?! What are you doing here?!" Mizuho stuttered out as she backed away from her parents.

Momo smiled sadly at her daughter, "It seems, Mizuho-chan, that your father wasn't as much of an evil bastard as I had originally thought."

At this, Sosuke rolled his eyes, "'As much of an evil Bastard'? So I still am one?"

Ichigo snorted in amusement, "I would say that's true."

Momo scoffed, "He's not half the one you are, dearest nephew."

Ichigo nodded, "Point. Very valid point."

Mizuho stomped her foot in aggravation, "Would somebody like to explain to me what the hell is going on here?!"

Sosuke Kurosaki cleared his throat before speaking in as calm a voice as he could manage, "Here's the thing, Mizuho-chan. All of us here are Vaizards, a sub-species of Shinigami that has hollow traits, and in some rare cases, an inner hollow."

Mizuho grew puzzled, "I thought a inner hollow was gained when the barrier between Shinigami and hollow was broken down?"

Sosuke shook his head, "That's close, Mizuho, but that's not entirely accurate. You see, the Vaizard are a breed of Shinigami that are 'tainted' in that they are born with a predisposition that makes their spirit particles part pure Shinigami part pure hollow."

"What's a 'pure hollow'?"

"A pure hollow is a soul that is reincarnated as a hollow, as in it starts its new cycle as a hollow from the very beginning, as opposed to becoming a human, dying, and then not going to soul society quick enough. A pure Shinigami, on the other hand, is a soul that is reincarnated as a Shinigami from the beginning. Basically, in both cases, they skip the whole human phase of their existence."

"So Vaizard and Arrancar are..."

"They are pure Shinigami with a hollow taint, and pure hollows with a Shinigami taint, respectively."

"So I'm..."

"You're a half-Vaizard, half-Shinigami. Just like your cousin Ichigo here."

Mizuho crossed her arms in front of her, "How exactly is he my cousin again?"

Sosuke smiled, "His mother is my sister, Masaki Kurosaki."

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The woman stared at the letters painted on the window of the Doctor's office. Clenching her fists, she turned around quickly and made her way to the Nurse's Station.

"Excuse me," she said, "Can you tell me where I can find Dr. Kurosaki? I need to see him."

The nurse nodded at the woman, before turning towards her computer. She rocked back and forth on her heel as she waited patiently for the computer to finalize the link to the main Vaizard Database. "It'll just be one second, ma'am, and I'll have the Darkest's location for you."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise, but before she could collect her thoughts, the nurse spoke up once again, "I can't quite seem to ascertain his exact location, but I can tell you where Shaolin is a the moment. She seems to be at the offices of one Dr. Ishida. Hmm...I wonder why that is?"

The woman responded, "Her elder sister married that Dr. Ishida. He's a Quincy."

The nurse made a little noise of understanding, "Well, anyway, find Shaolin and she'll be able to tell you where Ichigo-sama is."

"And why would she know?"

The nurse quirked an eyebrow, "You haven't heard?" The woman shook her head, and the nurse continued, "Evidently she and Ichigo have been lovers for some time now. Which was strange when I first heard about it, but apparently he had somehow managed to get himself flung into the past, so I guess it's not as creepy as it originally seemed."

The woman smiled at the nurse, "Thanks so much for your help, miss."

"No problem, ma'am. It's good to have you back."

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Hiyori spoke up from the rock she was perched on, "Oi, Keigo, what did Ichigo want to talk with you about earlier? It's seemed rather shocking to you, to say the least."

Keigo glanced at the young looking woman, "He told me that my father wasn't as much of an evil sadistic bastard as I originally had thought."

She cocked an eyebrow, "Do I know him?"

Keigo didn't answer her question. He instead stood up and drew his sword. "How about we train for a little bit, Hiyori-san?"

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "Why not? Sounds like fun! Though I still want an answer to my question."

Keigo laughed lightly, before unleashing the full force of his spiritual pressure. He slowly reached up and pulled a hand through his hair, causing it to slick back in a eerily familiar style. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his mocking smile caused Hiyori to jolt in surprise at how closely he resembled...

"Did you figure it out yet, Hiyori-san?"

"Y-you're Aizen's son!?"

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Ryuuken opened the door to his office once again, this time with a clipboard in his hands. His wife and sister-in-law looked up expectantly at him. He sighed, wishing he had a cigarette, before he said what he came to say, "Congratulations, you're having twins."

Tears of joy immediately started forming in Shaolin's eyes. "I, I, I'm going to become a mother," she breathed. "I can't believe it, I'm going to be a mommy!"

Megumi gave her sister a tight hug, "Congratulations, little sister. You'll be a great mother, I just know it."

All of sudden, there was a knock on the door to the office. Ryuuken glanced at the door and said, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that important that you can't talk to my receptionist about it first. So go away, I'm busy."

There was another knock on the door, but before Ryuuken could tell the person to go away yet again, a woman simply walked through the shut door as if it weren't there.

The dark orange, almost brown, haired woman smiled at Shaolin before saying, "It seems as if I'm going to be a Grandmother. Let me guess, he still hasn't proposed as of yet?" Shaolin shook her head, her eyes wide with shock at the sight of the woman standing in front of her. "So where is he, Shaolin? Where is my son?"

"Ichigo's at his cousin's at the present moment, my lady."

The woman smiled sweetly at the Captain of the Second Division. "Please, Shaolin, you're carrying my future grandchildren. You can call my Masaki."

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TBC

AN: Sorry for delay, but college is a bummer, and when it comes to my Fanfics, it's almost like I have ADD at times, so it can be hard to just sit down and finish an entire chapter in one night like I used to.

(Music Track: I'm on a Boat – T-Pain ft. the Lonely Island.)


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